Spades
by simplytrop
Summary: When Alfred, an archaeology student, stumbles upon a sleeping man in the ruins of an old castle, he finds himself accidentally married to the Queen of Spades. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Spades**

* * *

><p>Alfred looked down the corridor, but it was empty just like all the others before. He thought he could hear voices for just a second and he sprinted down the cold stone corridor, but at the end of it, there was just another set of uneven stone steps leading up.<p>

It wasn't his fault he'd gotten lost – the tour guide had just been so _boring_ and Alfred wanted to explore the old castle more, so he'd gone up a set of stairs while the tour guide was still talking. After all, Alfred was ten years old and definitely old enough by now to go look around a little bit by himself and not get lost. Now, though, Alfred couldn't find his mom, dad, Mattie, or any of the other people in their tour group.

He clutched his Nintendo and climbed up the next set of stairs. He was getting tired too. These old English castles were just made of hundreds of stairs. Alfred was the one who had begged to come see a castle while they were visiting England. These were the places where all the old kings and princes and people like King Arthur and Robin Hood used to live. How cool was that?

But now Alfred was lost and it was starting to get dark and he really did not want to be in the castle any more. Alfred had never thought about it before, but back when people actually lived in these castles, no one had awesome things like lights and stuff. It was probably super creepy at night, and already, the shadows were getting bigger and it was getting cold and Alfred was still in his shorts and T-shirt. It was still light enough that slits of late-afternoon sunlight still came through the narrow windows that Alfred knew were so small so people could shoot arrows out of them but no one on the outside could shoot in – pretty cool in the daytime, but not so awesome now that it was getting late and dark. Alfred wanted all the light he could get in here.

Also, if it was nighttime, then the ghosts might start to come out. English places were always haunted cause they were like a gazillion years old. Alfred hadn't really paid attention to the tour guide, but now he wondered if there were any ghosts living here.

He shivered and sprinted up the last couple of stone steps.

"Mom? Dad?" Alfred called, quietly just in case any ghosts heard him. "Mattie?"

He'd walked into a small room this time, but at the far end of it, there was another heavy wooden door.

It took both hands and all the effort Alfred could put into it to pull the half-rusted old door open. A gust of stinky, stale air came out accompanied by billowing dust like no one had opened that door in a very long time. The tour guide had said something about half the castle being off limits because it was in danger of falling apart, Alfred remembered. He should also probably leave this room alone because clearly his parents weren't in here.

But Alfred stopped when he saw what was actually in the room. It was a strange room that was surrounded with those slotted windows even though it had to be close to the center of the old castle. In the middle of the room was what looked like a bed except that it was made out of rock. What was the strangest about it though, was the person lying on that big slab of rock, and even though that bed couldn't be very comfortable, the person had his hands folded and his eyes closed like he was really asleep.

"Hello?" Alfred asked and walked into the room, letting go of the door.

As he got closer to the man, Alfred realized he was old. The sleeping man was a grown up at least in his twenties or something, and wearing very weird clothes that looked like they were from one of his mom's Jane Austen movies or something with the puffy white tie and a vest and cufflinks and everything. He also had huge eyebrows and hair messier than Alfred's was when he woke up in the mornings.

"Hey, you shouldn't sleep there," Alfred said and shook the man's arm. "I don't think you're allowed to."

The man didn't move so Alfred shook his arm harder. "You're going to catch a cold if you sleep here," he said. The man had to be very tired because he just kept sleeping even when Alfred shook him. "Did you get lost from your tour group too?" he asked.

Alfred sighed when he got no response, and looked to the door again. It was even darker now, and if Alfred didn't leave soon, he might be stuck in the castle all night and that would be _really_ scary. But Alfred couldn't just leave this guy sleeping here even though he was a grown up.

"Are you lost?"

Alfred jumped at the voice and automatically backed up a few steps before he realized the sleeping man was sitting up. It was too dark to tell what color his eyes were, but Alfred could see the man smiling at him. "U-Um, yeah…" Alfred said. "Do you know how to get out? You shouldn't be sleeping here," he added.

The man just smiled. "I need to be here," he said and then stood up and extended his hand. "Come, I'll take you to your parents," he said.

Alfred brightened up and took the man's hand. "I'm Alfred. Alfred F. Jones," he told the man. "Do you work here?" Alfred asked as they walked down the corridors and stairways. "You're wearing really weird clothes," he said.

"In a way," the man said.

"You have an accent so you're English, right?" Alfred continued, at ease now that he had a grown up who knew what he was doing. "I'm on vacation with my mom and dad and my brother," he said. "Did you know kings and stuff used to live here?"

"Yes," the man said.

"Isn't that cool? I want to sword fight too," Alfred said cheerfully. "But mom and dad won't let me learn how. They say I'd hurt myself." They were _always_ saying that about Alfred, but just because Alfred had broken his leg jumping off the roof before to see if he could fly, and just because he'd broken an arm and a collarbone before playing football, and just because he nearly got a concussion that one time he went to learn karate, it didn't mean Alfred was "accident-prone" like everyone else said he was. Alfred just had a sense of adventure!

"You probably would," the man said. "There's the door. Your family is waiting outside."

Alfred brightened up. "Thanks, mister!" he said and ran out the door, eager to see his parents and brother again.

Just as the man said, the entire tour group was waiting outside and his parents looked quite relieved to see Alfred.

"Just where did you wander off to, young man?" his father said as soon as he saw Alfred.

"You had us worried," his mother scolded him even as she hugged him. "Don't go wandering off like that!"

"Sorry, mom, dad," Alfred said. "But this nice man…" Alfred realized then that he didn't know the sleeping man's name. "He found me and helped me get out," he said.

"It was probably a tour guide," his mother said. "Make sure to tip extra," she told Alfred's father.

Alfred looked around for the sleeping man, but he didn't see him anywhere in sight. Even when their tour guide came and everyone headed for the bus, the man still didn't appear.

The castle was a pale gray against the darkening sky, and Alfred was being pulled down the path towards their tour bus, but that sleeping man…

* * *

><p>Alfred woke with a jolt and sat up. It was the same dream again – or maybe a memory. He fumbled for his glasses on his bedside table and managed to knock over his alarm, lamp, and a stack of books from university before he found them.<p>

"Ugh…" Alfred groaned as he threw back the covers and stumbled up to his feet, scratching his head and yawning as he headed for the bathroom. He tripped over a pile of dirty laundry, a smaller pile of video games, and a stack of research papers before he finally made it to the door.

It was Alfred's recurring dream. Other people got dreams about falling or showing up naked in school – Alfred got recurring dreams about being lost in a huge castle in England. He thought it might have started when he and his family _had_ gone on vacation around Europe when he was ten years old some time before his parents got divorced. He couldn't remember if he'd ever actually gotten lost then, or if he'd imagined it all, or if it was just a recurring dream that was so real that he thought it _was_ a memory when it wasn't. The dream didn't make any sense, after all. Some strange man in strange clothes in an old castle – it was just too bizarre to be real.

These days, he'd been getting the dream less often. After all, Alfred was an adult now. He was in graduate school, studying abroad in England for his thesis on medieval archaeology – a major he'd chosen because he wanted to go on adventures just like Indiana Jones.

Alfred brushed his teeth and then hopped in the shower. He wasn't entirely sure why he'd chosen to come to England of all places, though. Alfred didn't even particularly _like_ England. It was way too gloomy and rainy, and it had bad food, and everyone spoke in a weird accent. It wasn't even the best place to go for archaeology – Egypt or Turkey or Italy would be a lot more interesting to go to, Alfred thought. But England had been his first choice when he'd applied to graduate schools, and when he'd gotten in, he hadn't even hesitated to accept and move to England.

Of course when Alfred had first decided on his major, he'd expected the great adventures although most of the time, archaeology was a lot of studying. He did get to go to quite a few interesting places, but digs were fairly boring for the most part too – finding bits of pottery and analyzing how old things were wasn't exactly Alfred's idea of a cool job.

He'd woken up earlier than usual today thanks to the dream, so Alfred took his time with a big breakfast, and then gathering up the research and notes he was supposed to take to school today. In his current course, he'd gone on several trips already. There was one where they went to Italy to explore medieval catacombs, and then another one where they went to look at old Russian museums and some of the old art and statues they'd uncovered there. Then there was once they'd gone to Ireland for Celtic tombs, and another time they'd gone to Turkey to see some artifacts recovered from old Constantinople. Most of the time, since they were in England, Alfred spent his time going to old medieval castles in England or the chateaus across the Chunnel in France. Nearly all the castles and ruins were the same and although it wasn't like Alfred didn't enjoy going to old castles and studying them, it was starting to get repetitive.

Today, he was scheduled to visit another old castle up north, closer to Scotland. When Alfred got to the university, his mentor professor and his fellow graduate students were almost all there. Most of the other students in the program were British, but there were a couple of other transfers like Rebecca who was also from America, or Walter who was German, or Ivan, the new transfer all the way from Russia.

"I can't wait to see this place," Rebecca was saying when Alfred walked up to the group. "Oh, hey, Al," she said.

Alfred grinned and waved.

"Anyway like I was saying, you know that castle is supposed to be like from B.C. times," Rebecca continued. "It's one of the oldest castles in England."

"Isn't the Tower of London oldest?" Alfred said.

"Rumors, babe," Rebecca said. "And anyway, this is one of the ones that people say is haunted."

"All old castles are haunted, yes?" Ivan said.

"Well this one has a special ghost then," Rebecca said. "They say that there was a queen who went insane there after her husband died. Her brother had to keep her locked up in a tower for years and years and years," she said.

"Then, when her brother finally died, a maid went up there to have her attend the funeral, but she found the queen dead on her bed. It turned out she'd died years ago but no one ever noticed," Rebecca said, lowering her voice. "Rumors are that the ghost of that queen kidnaps any young man who goes in there, thinking he's her husband. They say all she wants is a last kiss from her one true love. Isn't that romantic?"

"That's what half the stories say," Alfred said. Ghost stories still creeped him out, but in broad daylight with Rebecca telling this ludicrous story that all old castles seemed to have, he was hardly scared. He'd been in enough of these old castles too, to know that most stories had only a grain of truth.

"All right, everyone, let's go," Professor Germania called. He was the supervising professor who was some sort of genius when it came to old Germanic and English history.

Alfred found himself drifting off in the van as they drove up to the castle.

Maybe he'd try transferring somewhere else soon even though Alfred's thesis was on medieval England. Maybe he'd try underwater archaeology or go somewhere more exotic like Peru or Brazil, or maybe even somewhere closer to home like Native American studies or something. Or maybe he'd change majors altogether and go for something more interesting like becoming an astronaut or something really active like a police detective. Not exactly practical, but hey, it wasn't like his parents were around to criticize him about his choices now – both of them wrapped up in their new lives after they'd divorced ages ago.

It was a two-hour trip before they got to the castle, and by then, Alfred was all too happy to get out of the van to stretch his legs. He was a lot taller than he used to be, and sitting in a cramped van for so long really was uncomfortable. Next to him, Ivan, who was usually fairly quiet though friendly in a bit of a creepy sort of way, also looked rather relieved to be out of the van.

"Not too comfortable, huh," Alfred said, grinning at him.

Ivan nodded.

Professor Germania was talking to a man who had come out to greet them.

"This is Mr. Bellairs," Professor Germania introduced them. "He'll be our expert today. If you'd like to give us a brief background?"

"Of course," Mr. Bellairs said. "This is one of our long standing castles here in the U.K. – we've had it closed to the public a few years now to do some maintenance…"

Alfred looked up at the castle then, and everything else faded to the background because he recognized this castle.

It was the castle in his dream. The old stone ruins were in the same shape although smaller than Alfred remembered it being – possibly because he'd been a child the last time he saw this castle. In the pale light of the cloudy mid-morning, it also looked much more worn down than he remembered. The dream wasn't a dream after all – it had to be a memory, though how much of the memory was real, Alfred didn't know.

Mr. Bellairs took them into the castle as he went through history that Alfred didn't listen to, too busy trying to remember what it had been like in his memory. If that much was real, he wondered if he _had_ gotten lost back then. The tour guide, his family… and that sleeping man.

Alfred looked at the corridors, the windows, the rooms, the floors as he followed Mr. Bellairs and the rest of his class through the castle, trying to remember where exactly he'd gotten lost in his dream. Had that room with the sleeping man been real?

"There's a fairytale attached to this castle – does anyone know it?" Mr. Bellairs was saying when Alfred recognized a set of stairs from his dream. They were uneven and sloped up, barely wide enough of a corridor for Alfred to fit in, and he was sure that if he went up these stairs, down two corridors, and then up another set of stairs, he'd get to the room with the wooden door at one end. In his dream, the stone stairwell it was unbarred, but now, there was a piece of old yellow construction tape blocking the way up.

"What's up there?" Alfred interrupted.

Mr. Bellairs paused. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Up those stairs," Alfred said, pointing.

"Nothing much. There used to be two towers up there, but one of them is long gone now, and the other is in disrepair," Mr. Bellairs said. "We've had it blocked off for decades now," he said. "Moving on, you'll see what used to be a bedroom on the right that most likely belonged to the royal children," he said as the group began to walk again.

Alfred frowned as he looked back at the stairway. It couldn't be right. If he'd visited here when he was ten, that was barely a decade ago, and it hadn't been blocked off back then… at least not in his dream. Unless he _had_ dreamt it after all. But why would Alfred have such an accurate memory of a place that he hadn't visited?

Alfred watched as his class disappeared around a corner, and then he took a deep breath and stepped over the construction tape. He had to know. At the top of the uneven stone steps, Alfred recognized the corridor, dustier than he remembered in his dream with chunks of debris and old, dead leaves scattered in the corners. It must have been ages since anyone had come up here. The slotted windows were the same as his dream, though, and when Alfred walked to the end of the corridor, sure enough, there was the second corridor. He walked down that one too although this one was in much worse repair than the first corridor. In some spots, the wall had broken off completely and Alfred could see down into the courtyard of the castle. He could hear his classmates talking from somewhere a story or so down, though he couldn't see them.

Then at the end of that corridor, there was the narrow stairwell just like in his dream. Alfred climbed that set of stairs even more carefully because parts of the wall were also completely gone and a misstep could send him falling several stories down into the courtyard. Mr. Bellairs hadn't been kidding when he said the castle was in disrepair, Alfred thought.

At the top of the stairs, Alfred finally came into the small bare room that he remembered. This was antechamber of the tower room, Alfred now realized, and at the opposite side of it was that heavy wooden door.

Alfred could feel his heart pounding as he crossed the room to the door. He grabbed the metal ring and pulled it – a little too hard because the door gave a loud creak of protest and one of the hinges came falling right off. Alfred winced. He was a lot stronger now than he'd been at ten years old, and the door wasn't nearly as big or heavy as he remembered it either.

He had to duck his head as he walked into the room. It was brighter than he remembered it being, but he'd seen it in the nighttime back then, and there hadn't been all these cobwebs and bits of feathers and dead leaves in here.

But all of that meant nothing, because Alfred stopped noticing anything else as soon as he saw that big rock slab in the middle of the room, just like he remembered. And just like in his dream, there was the sleeping man lying there on the stone pedestal, exactly as Alfred remembered.

* * *

><p>Alfred just stared for a good moment. It was impossible. His dream – no, it was a memory, he was sure of it now – was real.<p>

The sleeping man was dressed in the same clothes, though now that Alfred knew quite a bit more about archaeology and history, he didn't recognize those clothes being of any period he was familiar with. The sleeping man wore a cravat, a blue vest, and purple coat, all of which didn't make sense for the time period that this castle should have been inhabited. Maybe, Alfred thought, this man was an elaborate joke. A doll, maybe, that someone had left here for decades and Alfred had only seen it and made the rest up in his dreams. The man did look very still, and exactly the same as Alfred remembered except for being smaller and younger – but Alfred had been ten back then. The sleeping man couldn't be more than a few years older than Alfred himself, and he had a slim, wirey build unlike the strong adult that Alfred remembered in his dreams.

Alfred stepped closer. The sleeping man looked very real for a doll. He was covered in a layer of dust, and there was just no way that someone Alfred remembered from more than ten years ago could still be here and be alive.

Alfred wiped the dust away from the man's face for a better look and nearly jumped, because the man's skin was warm.

Alfred swallowed hard and looked a little closer. He touched the man's face again, and felt warm, soft, _real_ skin. If his thick eyebrows and hair were fake, they were also the most realistic that Alfred had ever seen. Alfred wiped more of the dust away, and this time, when his thumb brushed the man's lips, they parted with a small sigh.

Alfred shook his head. It was impossible for a man from his dreams more than a decade ago to still be here, the same age and appearance to be alive. But he seemed to be.

"Hey," Alfred said finally and shook the man's shoulder the way he had back when he was a kid. "Hey, wake up."

He thought he saw a puff of dust go up in the air by the man's mouth like he'd breathed and Alfred shook him a little harder. "If you're real, then wake up!" Alfred said louder.

The man was still limp even when Alfred tried to pull him up into a sitting position, although by now, Alfred was sure he had to be a real human by the way his body folded. The sleeping man also had to be alive because his body was flexible and relaxed – none of the rigor mortis in immediate post-death and no signs of rot or discoloration that should show up if this was a corpse. He was real, and he was unconscious.

Alfred looked closer at the face of the man, wishing he'd paid a little more attention to the history that Professor Germania and Mr. Bellairs had gone over so far, but all he could remember was Rebecca's creepy little ghost story about the queen – which this man obviously couldn't be. It was also impossible for him to be a part of the history of the castle, though. Everything about him was just impossible. It was like something out of a legend or a fairytale…

Alfred glanced down at the man's face again and wiped away more of the dust as he lay him back down on the stone pedestal. It couldn't be. Fairytales weren't real, Alfred thought. Ghost stories and legends were all only stories, but this man also couldn't possibly be here.

In any case, it couldn't hurt, right?

Alfred looked down at the man and his parted lips, pink and soft with no signs of being weathered or chapped. He swallowed again, and then bent down and quickly brushed his lips to the sleeping man's own before drawing back.

Alfred studied the sleeping man, watching for any change even though it should also be impossible. Waking someone with a kiss only happened in fairytales…

Except then, a small puff of dust came from the man's nose, and Alfred watched as the man's face scrunched up. Slowly, his thick, dusty eyelashes blinked open, and then Alfred found himself staring at the greenest pair of eyes he'd ever seen in his life.

The man stared back at him in what seemed to be a mix of confusion and surprise. He opened his mouth a few times, as though trying to figure out what to say.

Alfred himself just stared at the man, too shocked to say anything at all.

Then the man frowned. "Oh, bollocks," he said.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC?<br>**


	2. Chapter 2

"You bloody idiot! What did you go and do that for?" the man shouted as he sat up, bringing up clouds of dust as he did so. This seemed to annoy him even more as he got to his feet and began dusting himself off all over. "Ugh, this is disgusting," he muttered as he picked a bit of cobweb from his hair.

Alfred was still in a state of shock. "Y-Y— Are you a ghost?" he finally asked.

The man looked up and sneezed twice before glaring, a bit teary-eyed from the dust, at Alfred. "Of course not," he snapped. "Bloody hell, I'm married to an idiot," he said, but his complaint was cut off by another explosive sneeze.

Alfred was beginning to regain the use of his brain again which was filled to overflowing with questions. "Who are you? Wait, no, _what_ are you? How is this even possible? How long have you been up here? I mean, I couldn't have seen you ten or however many years ago it was, right? That's just impossible!"

"What on earth are you going on about?" the man asked irritably.

"You—you work here, right?" Alfred said. "I mean you have to—what's with your clothes anyway? If this is supposed to be medieval, you've got the costume off by a couple centuries."

"I don't bloody—oh fuck, you're from what's that place called?" the man said. "England, right."

"No, I'm from America," Alfred said. "I'm living in England right now though," he added since that seemed to be what the man was looking for, which was strange because the man spoke in a very proper British accent.

The man glared at him and then very blatantly looked Alfred up and down from head to toe in a way that made Alfred feel like he ought to be standing to attention. He seemed rather unimpressed with what he saw even though Alfred made it a point to keep fit – archaeologists had to, to go on all those grueling digs after all.

"I suppose there's no helping it," the man said and drew himself up regally. "I am Arthur Kirkland, the Queen of Spades."

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure you're a guy. Or else you're the ugliest chick I've ever seen."

The man glared at him even harder. "And you, what is your name anyway?" he asked.

"I met you all those years ago, remember? I'm Alfred. Alfred F. Jones," Alfred said.

A sudden loud rumbling came from the building and bits of dust and debris began falling from the ceiling.

"Shit, the enchantment!" Arthur said as a chunk of stone fell right from the ceiling and crashed to the ground less than a foot away from them both.

"What's going on here?" Alfred asked, but Arthur was grabbing his hand and pulling him, running out of the tower room.

Arthur glanced at him briefly, a flash of green eyes, before turning again to run down the crooked, narrow stairs, still pulling Alfred after him. "You're my new husband," Arthur said dryly. "Congratulations."

"What?" Alfred automatically recoiled.

Arthur glared at him and pulled even harder as they ran down the corridors for the next set of stairs. "We can discuss that later," he snapped. "For now, could we focus on getting out of here before we're crushed to bloody bits and pieces?" he said.

Alfred nodded and picked up the pace as they half-stumbled, half-ran out of the crumbling castle. Arthur seemed to know exactly where he was going although Alfred was completely direction-confused after a few twists and turns. He briefly wondered if the rest of his class was getting out all right too.

"Hurry," Arthur said when they sprinted down a flight of steps to an open courtyard. Big chunks of stone were dropping now as they ran for the main doors of the old castle.

Man, Professor Germania wasn't going to be happy that a castle had just seemingly crumbled out of nowhere, Alfred thought.

Just as they ran out of the doorway, Alfred felt a sting and a jolt of pain go racing through his head when a piece of debris hit him there. Arthur didn't let go of him or stop running until they were several yards away on the sloping hill, far enough that when Alfred turned and watched the rest of the castle quickly give in on itself, nothing but dust hit them. Alfred winced as the castle completely collapsed – as an archaeologist, it somewhat pained him to see anything that old go to pieces.

And that was when he noticed things weren't quite right. Alfred hadn't been exactly paying attention on the drive up to the castle, but at the very least, Alfred knew that there was definitely a concrete road leading up to a parking lot right next to the old ruins. Now, there was nothing but long grass covering the hill the former castle was on. Also, the small tourist's booth outside of the castle and their class van were both gone. In fact, there was no road at all as far as Alfred could see – the highway they'd come on had completely disappeared and he thought that even the woods surrounding the area seemed to look different too.

"Where's my class?" Alfred said as he started back toward the rubble. If they weren't outside, they had to still be in the castle.

"You're bleeding," Arthur interrupted. He forcibly grabbed Alfred by the chin and prodded at his face.

Alfred winced and automatically touched the place it hurt. His fingers came away sticky and red. "I hit my head coming out," he said.

"A scalp wound, great," Arthur muttered, but he looked worried as he prodded at Alfred's forehead some more. "It doesn't look deep." He bent and ripped the very end of his long coat, frowning at it, and began winding the strip of purple material around Alfred's forehead.

"I'll be fine," Alfred said, but Arthur just tightened the makeshift bandage, making Alfred wince. "Where's everyone else?" Alfred asked instead. "I have to go back and find them."

"We're not in your world anymore, idiot," Arthur said and gave his wound an extra hard prod.

Alfred hissed in pain. "What was that for?"

"Pay attention," Arthur said, glaring sternly up at Alfred and now Alfred noticed Arthur really wasn't nearly as big as Alfred remembered him being. He was a couple inches shorter than Alfred so Arthur had to tilt Alfred's face down to inspect the wound, but the way Arthur carried himself made him look taller than he was.

"We're not in your world anymore," Arthur said. "This is my kingdom, Spades."

"What?" Alfred said, even more confused.

"Spades – that's the name of my kingdom," Arthur said. "Fucking Yao, sending me to that world for all the good it did and now I've got an idiot to baby-sit," he muttered.

"Will you just explain what the fuck is going on here?" Alfred asked, beginning to get very frustrated on top of being completely confused and injured too.

Arthur glared at him and exhaled. "We need to go back to the castle – not this castle," he said quickly. "My castle. I'll explain on the way."

Alfred had no choice but to agree when his class was missing, the castle they'd just been studying was ruined, and there was no road and no van and everything was different. "This better be a good explanation."

* * *

><p>Arthur apparently knew the geography of the area very well, because he managed to pick out a foot-worn path that Alfred would never have found. As they walked, Alfred found he really was in a place that was a lot more foreign than he'd originally thought. For one, none of the flora and fauna looked the same and Alfred wasn't even someone who paid attention to that most of the time. It took no genius, though, to figure out that spade-shaped leaves and petals on everything was not exactly natural. Also, there was entirely too much blue in everything. The grass was tinted lavender blue, they passed a small grove of tall trees that had lapis lazuli-shade leaves which Alfred was definitely sure couldn't be natural on a plant, and the clincher was when they passed several bushes that appeared to be growing clocks.<p>

Alfred stopped in place. "That can't be real," he said as he crouched down to look at the bush. The clocks appeared to be ticking all in sync.

"It's only a spade time tree," Arthur said. "They're everywhere here. Ours are shaped like spades – the other kingdoms have all got their own national trees – the Clubs have clover luck trees—"

"You mean clover grass," Alfred said because he had never heard of clover growing on trees before.

Arthur glared at him. "No, I mean trees," he said.

"Can I pick one?" Alfred asked, looking curiously at the strange clocks that apparently grew on trees here. It was either that or some sort of elaborate prank. When he looked down at his own wristwatch, he found that the time was off by three hours from the spade clocks. He reached for one of the clocks only to be slapped by Arthur.

"No you cannot!" Arthur said. "Those can only be touched by royalty which you …well, you… ugh, you just can't."

"So _you_ can pick one?" Alfred asked.

"Yes, but I'm not going to, so get up. It's going to be dark before we get home at the rate we're walking," Arthur said, grabbing Alfred by the arm and pulling him up. "And as I was saying, the Hearts have got their heart rose trees, and the Diamonds have diamond trees, of course."

"That doesn't even make any sense," Alfred said as they continued walking.

"Have you been paying attention to anything I just told you?" Arthur asked and sighed. "We have four kingdoms here – Spades, Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds. I'm the Queen of Spades—"

"Yes you already said that, but what—does this mean this isn't uh… Earth anymore?" Alfred asked.

"Of course it is, you idiot," Arthur said. "It's just a…a different Earth than the one you know… a different universe and a different time, I suppose you could say."

"What?" Alfred asked, even more confused.

Arthur sighed. "This is a different universe, got it?" he said. "It's one where there are only four countries in the entire world – Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds," he said.

"So this is like Lord of the Rings or something except with what? Poker cards?" Alfred asked. He was momentarily distracted again when what looked like a cross between a squirrel and a parrot flitted suddenly from one tree to another until it disappeared from sight.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," Arthur said. "And as I said before, this isn't—"

"Gross! What is that thing?" Alfred said, pointing to a white blob of a creature that had just emerged from behind a tree. It appeared to be chewing on a spade-shaped leaf and stared wide-eyed back at Alfred.

"It's only a mochi," Arthur said, dismissing it, and when Alfred continued to stare, Arthur grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along.

"You have the weirdest animals here," Alfred said.

Arthur sighed long and loud. "_As I was saying_," he repeated. "Our—"

"So what were you doing in _my_ world then?" Alfred interrupted.

Arthur pressed his mouth into a line, glared at Alfred, and then stomped ahead on the path.

Alfred laughed. "I'm just kidding! I'm listening," he said, jogging forward a few steps to catch up with Arthur. "I'm really listening," he said.

"Of all people why did I have to get stuck marrying _you_," Arthur muttered. "Bad enough the spell was broken…"

Alfred exhaled. "And why do you keep saying that?" he asked.

"What?"

"Something about being married or whatever," Alfred said.

"Because we are," Arthur said and glared at him, pausing in his walk to jab Alfred in the chest. "You and me. We are married," he said.

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now I know there's something wrong with you. We aren't married," he said.

"You kissed me and woke me up, didn't you?" Arthur said.

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Why did you do it?" Arthur asked.

Alfred shrugged. "I dunno, cause you weren't waking up and you weren't dead, so I figured I might as well try…"

"Because kissing someone breaks the spell," Arthur said, satisfied. "Even an idiot like you knows that, apparently. And what happens after the spell gets broken?"

Alfred's eyes widened with realisation. "Dude, that's only in fairytales," he said.

"I don't know what this fairytale thing you're talking about is, but I guarantee you, we are very much married," Arthur said as he began walking again. "It doesn't matter who breaks the spell – the one who does it gets married to the one who was under the spell which, unfortunately, was me. This is a contracted agreement that cannot be broken."

Alfred was having a hard time processing this now. "We're not married," he said.

"Yes we are," Arthur said.

"No, we _can't_ be," Alfred repeated. "I'm hardly even twenty-two!" he said. "I've never even had a serious girlfriend before! I'm too _young_ to get married!"

"Then you shouldn't have gone around kissing unconscious people," Arthur said. "I didn't _ask_ you to wake me up, all right. It would have been better if you'd just left well enough alone. Thanks to you, my kingdom is vulnerable again and you just better hope that bought enough time for my Jack to get things together," he said. "If Hearts attacks because of this, I will kill you myself."

"What?" Alfred asked.

Arthur sighed. "You broke the spell I was under when you kissed me and woke me up so now we're married for better or for worse. Now be quiet," he said as they crested a hill and broke through the cover of trees.

Down below them was a huge, sprawling city. At the center of it was the walled city with a castle inside – just like the medieval walled cities that Alfred had studied before. But this one had apparently grown enough that there were houses and fields and people living surrounding the main city center as well. It was idyllically beautiful with square plots of fields, shepherds with their sheep in the distant hills, carts and merchants bustling in and out of the city walls to go to the big marketplace.

Alfred swallowed as he looked down at the city. "This really isn't England anymore."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "That's what I've been telling you. Now be quiet. We'll have to sneak into the city – no one can know of your existence yet."

"Why not?" Alfred asked.

"You'll need a proper coronation ceremony. They'll probably even want a proper wedding," Arthur said and when Alfred looked completely confused, sighed. "You're the new King of Spades."

"I'm _what_?"

* * *

><p>Sneaking into a bustling city was a lot more difficult than it appeared, especially because Arthur apparently had a very distinct outfit that was only worn by the Queen of Spades.<p>

"How does that even work? You're not a girl," Alfred said.

"Yes, and?" Arthur said dryly as he pulled on the plain brown cloak around his shoulders and fastened it so no one could see the clothes he was wearing under it.

"Well… so shouldn't you be king?" Alfred asked.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "It's a position. It has nothing to do with gender," he said.

"Then getting married?"

"Completely political," Arthur answered and then turned, slapping Alfred's hands away from his own cloak and tying it up for Alfred instead. Alfred had no idea where Arthur had gotten these cloaks, but he suspected it wasn't entirely legal when Arthur told him to stay put at the edge of the nearest farm, and disappeared for ten minutes.

When Arthur had done up Alfred's cloak enough for his satisfaction, he pulled his own hood over his head, covering everything and leaving his face in shadows. Alfred copied him, still not entirely sure what was going on.

"Follow close or you'll get lost, and I'm not coming to search for you," Arthur said, and then they walked down the dusty, unpaved road towards the walled city.

It was just as startling to see the outskirts of the city as the strange fields and forest had been. The people all wore unfamiliar styles that Alfred couldn't place in history, and none of the houses and stalls were of any models that Alfred was familiar with. Sometimes there were small, wooden huts that looked like they might belong with the medieval period, but then right next to them might be a house with shingles and shutters that looked almost Victorian in model.

Alfred nearly lost sight of Arthur twice – once when he got sidetracked with the delicious smells coming from a bakery, and another time when he stopped to help up a small girl who had fallen down in the middle of the street, ripping her chiffon skirt and crying.

It didn't help that Arthur, despite all his warnings about standing out, walked with all the poise and intent of entitlement. Alfred could just about see the royalty reeking from Arthur's walk, and he didn't think everyone was getting out of Arthur's way solely out of politeness. Alfred had a long stride and he could easily keep up with Arthur as long as he was paying attention, but the moment he stopped, Arthur could be several yards ahead and disappearing behind a horse and buggy.

As the buildings got denser and there were more people and carts closer to the walled city, it began to get harder to keep up with Arthur too. From roads, Arthur would lead him into alleys, and then down smaller, less crowded roads, only to head back onto one with more traffic again. Alfred caught up with Arthur again just as he got to the gate of the walled city where people were going in and out. It was especially jammed there because the guards at the gate were going through every single person entering and exiting the city.

"Wow, you guys have strict security here," Alfred said. "Just like American airports."

"What?" Arthur said. "And keep your voice down. I did tell you already, Hearts has been getting more hostile – they've already declared war on Diamonds and Clubs. We've only been lucky so far because we're farthest away, but now that you've broken the spell, Spades is open to attack again too."

"That made as much sense as the first time around," Alfred said, remembering Arthur vaguely saying something about a war or something. "Which, by the way, means none at all." When Arthur gave explanations, it was like he was telling Alfred things he thought anyone ought to know and which all the people in his strange world might know, but that Alfred couldn't make head nor tails of. And then Arthur got mad at Alfred for not understanding a word he said.

Arthur glared at him – or at least Alfred thought it was probably a glare though he couldn't see Arthur's face clearly. "No, our security is not like this all of the time, but we've got to protect the capital right now so yes, we are keeping strict tabs. Now be quiet and let me do the talking," he said as they got to the main gate.

"Excuse me, sirs, you're going to have to take your cloaks off," one of the guards said. All the guards were in uniform that had the same color scheme as Arthur's outfit.

Arthur pulled something out from under his cloak to show to the guard, and Alfred saw it was a spade clock from the time tree. "Your majesty," the guard said immediately.

"Hush, no one can know I am back yet," Arthur said, stowing the clock away and grabbing Alfred by the arm to pull through the gate.

"Isn't that super easy to impersonate you then?" Alfred asked as soon as they crossed the bridge.

"No one would dare impersonate royalty," Arthur said. "And it isn't easy," he said. "Look." He pulled Alfred aside beneath the eaves of a perfumery and held the clock up again close to his face. Alfred automatically took a step back. The clock face was glowing a mild gold but the hands of the clock were spinning. Arthur put the clock flat down on his palm, and abruptly, both hands of the clock stopped spinning and pointed – the shorter one to Arthur, and the longer one, away from him and in Alfred's direction.

"The hour hand will always point at me when I am nearby," he said. "And the minute hand will always point to the King of Spades which would now be you."

Arthur shifted, taking two steps to the right, but indeed, the hour hand followed him. "It makes these clocks absolutely useless for keeping time for us, but there you have it. And if you need any more proof that we're married. Go on, move somewhere," he said.

Alfred took a step to the right as well, and then circled around until he was behind Arthur. The minute hand moved with Alfred until both hour and minute hands were positioned one on top of the other, pointed at them.

"The ones on the bush didn't do that," Alfred said.

"That was a tree," Arthur corrected him as he stowed the clock away again. "And those hadn't been picked," he said as they began walking up cobbled streets and toward the castle.

"So the others countries, you said… do their weird national whatchamacallits also do that?" Alfred asked.

"I've no idea what the rules are for their national symbols, but it would be similar I would think," Arthur said. "These are used to identify the royalty."

The people in the walled city were dressed much more similarly to Arthur, and there were multihued blue flags that hung fluttering in banners strung across the streets. Alfred could smell blueberry pies fresh from ovens, and the noise and chatter of a big city all around him. It was also much cleaner than Alfred expected of a walled city, but this also definitely wasn't one that belonged to medieval England.

No one bothered them until they got to the castle, and then Arthur pulled out his clock for the guards again, and they were let inside without a second word. The castle itself looked similar to the one Arthur had been asleep in all those years, but much nicer and completely functional. Alfred noticed that the ground here was also much more evenly paved than the old ruin.

"So what now?" Alfred asked once they were inside.

"Not yet," Arthur said and began walking again at his quick pace, across the courtyard and then through another door. Alfred was getting just as lost as he'd been in the other castle, so he just tried to keep Arthur in view and not get too creeped out by some of the decorations Arthur kept in his castle. Really, gargoyles and suits of armor and hideous tapestries weren't exactly lending itself to a cheerful atmosphere.

Finally, Arthur threw open the wooden doors to a large room. It was clearly a library because it was lined from floor to high ceiling with books and manuscripts.

"Yao! Where are you?" Arthur said and took off his cloak as soon as he walked in. Alfred also unfastened his own cloak. "Close the door," Arthur ordered Alfred. Alfred didn't like his tone of voice though he was beginning to get the idea that this was how Arthur talked to everyone. He went and shut the door anyway because he'd rather figure out what was going on here than get in an argument with Arthur.

"Yao!" Arthur said.

"I am coming." A short man who was Asian in appearance emerged from behind a shelf of books. He was wearing clothes that looked more like a dress than anything else, and he had long hair so Alfred wasn't quite sure that he really _was_ a man at first.

"Arthur, you're back?" Yao looked stunned.

"Yes, just what kind of a spell did you use? How many days has it been since I went to sleep?" Arthur asked.

"Only five days," Yao said. "This cannot be right." He immediately went to a desk in the center of the room that was piled to overflowing with scrolls and books. "What happened to the location?"

"That shitty old castle you set me up in? It crumbled as soon as I woke up," Arthur said.

"Uh…" Alfred coughed and then decided that since no one was going to introduce him, he might as well introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Alfred," he said and extended his hand right in front of the book Yao had started looking through.

Yao jumped. "Yes, yes, ni hao, nice to meet you," he said, shaking Alfred's hand slowly before turning to Arthur. "And who is this?"

Arthur shot an annoyed look at Alfred. "This is the new King of Spades," he said. "He's the one who woke me."

Yao gave a startled look at Alfred again.

"And this is Yao, the Jack of Spades," Arthur said. "He's our third member of royalty who screwed up this time."

"It was not me," Yao immediately said. "I do not know what went wrong, but _you_ contribute just as much to spell as me and _your_ magic is much worse—" His English got worse the more he got wound up, and now Alfred was really quite confused. Arthur had a British accent, but this other member of royalty, Yao, seemed to be Chinese.

"My magic is perfectly fine!" Arthur said.

"That's what you said last time you summon King of Clubs by accident," Yao said. "And you also say your cooking good too."

"My cooking _is_ good," Arthur snapped.

"So are you related?" Alfred interrupted before a fight could break out. "If you guys are both royalty and stuff."

"It's a position," Arthur said. "God, you are fucking slow. And if anyone's to blame, it's really you," he said, rounding on Alfred. "Oh sod it all. Just— we need to figure out what to do now. Should you put me back under?" he asked Yao.

Yao had turned back to the book but he looked up at Alfred. "Not if he is really the king now," he said. "If we put anyone to sleep now, it would have to be Alfred, and if the spell didn't work the first time… he's from the other place?" Yao asked, staring very openly at Alfred's sneakers.

"Yes," Arthur said.

"Then I am not sure if it will work," Yao said.

Arthur glared at Alfred as though it was all his fault.

"Stop blaming the boy, he did not know," Yao said. "Though the castle we chose… it should have been abandoned…"

"It was," Alfred said. "For a couple thousand years, but it was restored and opened to public a couple decades ago – at least partially restored."

"Strange…my spell should have kept other people away." Yao took a deep breath and then shook his head. "You two go get… cleaned up," he said, looking pointedly at Arthur's still dust-stained self. Arthur's face turned pink. "I will see what we can do, though now that we have a king again…we'll need a proper ceremony too…coronation or wedding…" he trailed off as he turned back to his book.

Arthur sighed and glanced at Alfred. He seemed to have calmed down a bit and now looked a little guilty, Alfred thought. "Let's go," he said.

"Wait," Alfred said. "If this really isn't England or Earth or whatever anymore… how do I get home?" he asked.

Yao and Arthur both looked at him and in the long pause, Alfred already knew what they were going to say.

"You can't," Arthur said and this time he definitely did look sorry. "Not now that you're the king, I mean, it was your fault of course, but—"

"Until we get this figured out, you cannot go home, Alfred," Yao said firmly. "We will figure this out, but we are also in the middle of a war right now."

Alfred did not like the idea of having to be stuck in a strange place like this with no idea of how to get home or if everyone in his class was all right. But, he told himself, he had always wanted an adventure, right? And finding yourself the king of an entire country in a different world was probably about as much adventure as anyone could ever ask for. Even if that country seemed to be on the brink of war that all the surrounding countries were already involved in, and he was married to the most irritable queen in the world who was actually a man and who seemed to hate Alfred on top of it all.

"I get it," Alfred said. "I'll help you guys out."

Yao smiled and nodded.

"Thank you." Alfred turned at the small voice. Arthur was biting his lip and looking down at his dusty shoes. It was probably the first time in all of this that Alfred had seen Arthur looking anything but annoyed, angry, or put-upon.

Alfred shrugged and gave them a rather helpless grin. "What can a born-to-be hero do, right?" he said and tried to lighten the mood. "Anyway, come on, Arthur," he said, grabbing Arthur by the arm and pulling him out the door to leave Yao to his studies. "So do you guys have showers here? And food, I'm starving," he said.

It seemed to work because Arthur looked up and seemed to be more composed and even hopeful as he gave Alfred a small smile. "I don't know what a shower is, but we have plenty of food," Arthur said and reached over to touch Alfred's bandaged forehead again. "You need to get this properly treated first," he said. His fingers were gentler this time, though, and he looked concerned for Alfred.

"I'll show you to your chambers and then we'll get the physician," Arthur said, drawing away, and began walking down the halls again at a more leisurely pace.

Alfred found himself thinking that Arthur might not be such an awful person after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry to the people who thought this was going to be a lot of history... there might be a little bit later on... but mostly this is fantasy! TBC?<br>**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ahhhh you guys are the nicest! Thank you so much for all your reviews! Sorry if I didn't get to reply to everyone, but I appreciate every single review so really thank you so much! (Also some people have PM turned off so I can't send you a reply that way then.) Haha I hope you guys will all continue to enjoy this fic!**

**Hong is Hong Kong and Tim is Netherlands.**

* * *

><p>The food in Spades was the most awful thing Alfred had ever tasted in his life.<p>

"Gross, what is this shit?"

"Excuse me, this is great cuisine!" Arthur snapped, rounding on Alfred, red-faced and offended.

"What is this even supposed to be?" Alfred asked, holding up one of the black things on the plate Arthur had given him. "It's not _actually_ shit, is it— "

"I—I—" Arthur glared at him. "Fucking starve for all I care!" he said and stomped out of the kitchen, his purple coat billowing behind him like a cape, still torn at the ends from Alfred's bandage.

In the end, the first thing they'd done was take a quick trip to the physician's chambers who had stitched Alfred's wound shut, which was painful because in this world, they apparently hadn't heard of anesthetic yet. They _did_ have antiseptic though, which Alfred had been much more worried about. Arthur had also brought Alfred a change of clothes while he was being stitched up. They were fairly plain, much to Alfred's relief – only a white button-up shirt and brown slacks much like the dressier semi-casual Alfred was expected to wear when he had to do a presentation or a lecture. The clothes were a little tight at the shoulders but until they had clothes tailored for him, it was better than walking around in his sweatshirt and jeans, advertising to the world that he was not from Spades.

After that, they'd gone straight to the kitchens where Arthur had proceeded to get out these chunks of rock or whatever they were supposed to be. Alfred was going to starve if everything here tasted like that. How on earth did Arthur manage to live with food like this?

"The Queen made that himself."

Alfred turned to see one of the kitchen cooks standing behind him. He was an Asian with eyebrows nearly as thick as Arthur's, and he was looking steadily at Alfred.

"Arthur _made_ this?" Alfred echoed. "Wait, you mean this really _is_ supposed to be food?"

"They're scones," the man said. He also had a vaguely British accent despite clearly being of Asian descent. The world here got more and more confusing with each new person Alfred met. "And who are you?"

"I'm Alfred," Alfred answered cheerfully with a salute. "Who are you?"

"Hong. Pleased to meet you," he said with the same blank sort of expression he'd been wearing. "But that tells me nothing."

Alfred wasn't sure if he was supposed to tell other people who he was, but if he really was the King of Spades, Hong was probably going to find out sooner or later. "I'm the King of Spades," he said. "Or at least that's what Arthur says."

Hong's mouth crooked up in a cross between an amused smirk and a smile. "Ah, that's why you took the food. You're new here?"

Alfred nodded.

"The Queen enjoys cooking as a hobby, but he's pants at it," Hong said. "The only people who eat what he makes are himself and the people who don't know any better."

"Good to know," Alfred said. "So that means not everything here tastes like this, right?"

Hong did smile this time. "I'll bring you some edible food," he said and glanced at the plate of so-called scones. "Though if you really are the new King, you may want to… at least pretend to eat some," he said. "The Queen likes it when other people eat his food."

It looked more like Arthur got mad at anyone who _didn't_ eat his food.

Alfred cringed, looking at the plate that he was sure had to be at least some level of toxic. "Do you have anything to drink? I'll try washing a couple down," he said.

Hong nodded, looking pleased, and left to bring Alfred real food.

The kitchens were huge although not too crowded. It was early afternoon so there were only a few cooks in the kitchen and no one was paying very much attention to Alfred or Hong. Hong returned with a giant bowl of noodles that looked like Asian cuisine and a tray of blueberry tarts. He also gave Alfred a chalice full of a dark purple drink that tasted just like Ribena.

"Help yourself," he said.

Alfred nodded eagerly and dug in. He was absolutely starving after the day – or however long it had been since he'd woken up in the morning. The noodles were great and Alfred managed to eat two gigantic bowls of it – with Hong's eyes widening with each bowl – before he started on the desserts.

"So…" Alfred said, once he'd satiated his hunger enough to think about things other than eating. "Can I get a tour of this place?" he asked. He picked up one of Arthur's scones and, wincing, managed to wash it down with the blackcurrant cordial.

He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do with Arthur gone. Truthfully, Alfred felt a little like this was all a dream he was going to wake up from very soon except that his forehead still ached and now his tongue numb from the scones he'd just had to choke down.

Hong nodded. "We will not be busy in the kitchen for a few hours yet. I will show you around the castle," he said.

"Awesome," Alfred said cheerfully and got to his feet.

"This is the kitchen," Hong said, gesturing to the room as they walked out of it. "Usually the royalty and nobles will dine in the dining hall, but if you want to eat between meals, it's most convenient to have it sent to your room or to come down to the kitchen."

The dining room was one big room with the longest table Alfred had ever seen in the middle of it. It had majestic mahogany walls and portraits hung all over the room. At the very center was a huge portrait of Arthur that was incredibly life-like from his eyebrows down to his pursed mouth as though he was glaring down at the room. Next to Arthur's painting was a big blank space on the wall, and on the other side of the blank space was a smaller portrait of Yao.

"That will be where your picture goes," Hong said, gesturing to the blank space. "Traditionally, the King, Queen, and Jack of Spades all have their portraits hung there."

Alfred frowned at the blank space. "So what happened to the old king?" he asked.

"The Queen didn't explain?" Hong asked.

Alfred shook his head.

"You had best have him explain it to you," Hong said as he walked out of the room again, gesturing for Alfred to follow him.

They went down another hallway where Hong pointed out the library that Alfred had already seen, and then they came to the biggest room yet.

"This is the throne room," Hong said. Their footsteps echoed as they walked in, though the sound was slightly muffled because of the curtains that were hung up all around the room, blocking out much of the sunlight coming into the room. Up above on the high-arched ceiling hung hundreds of chandeliers, and all around the room stood pillars and statues made of white marble and gold.

Elevated up at the far end of the room, were two thrones – one slightly bigger than the other though both were equally ornate with gold leafing and blue gems. Alfred was very quickly beginning to get an idea of what the national colors here were. Above the two thrones hung a huge flag of a black spade on royal blue fabric. Around the spade on the flag was an ornate design that Alfred recognized as being a coat-of-arms, but one that he'd never seen before.

"Yao doesn't get a throne?" Alfred asked as he looked around in wonder.

"No, the Jack does not hold court," Hong answered.

Hong also pointed out the physician's room on the second floor of the castle along with several halls that were the servants' quarters, more rooms for soldiers and nobility and other miscellaneous people who worked in the castle, and guest rooms for visitors. There were several rooms used solely to store things, and several towers higher up that hardly anyone ever used anymore.

"That way will be the royal suites," Hong said, pointing down one hallway. "You will have a room there, I presume," he said though he didn't volunteer to show Alfred around there.

"Then we have the armoury and stables outside," Hong said and lead Alfred down another corridor that opened out to a courtyard.

The courtyard immediately caught Alfred's interest because there was some sort of a training practice going on. There were quite a few men dressed from head to toe in heavy armor who were all clashing sword with each other in formation. There was one particular pair that was far better, faster, and more aggressive than the others.

One of the knights in that dueling pair was dressed in full armor from head to toe. The other was smaller than the first and dressed in simple chain mail and a helmet, though it appeared to allow him to move faster than the first. They fought for quite some time, parrying, thrusting, turning in complicated formations that Alfred couldn't keep up with until finally, by some sort of agreement, both knights stopped and bowed stiffly to each other.

Then they pulled off their helmets. The taller knight in full armor, Alfred didn't recognize, but the smaller knight was Arthur, his face flushed and bangs plastered to his forehead with sweat.

"Wow, that was you, Arthur?" Alfred said, eyes shining. He'd always wanted to learn how to sword fight ever since he was a kid, though his parents had never let him. "That's so cool!"

"Alfred," Arthur said, looking rather pleased and flattered as he brushed the arm without a vambrace across his face, wiping off some of the sweat with his gloved hand.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Alfred asked, walking around Arthur to look at his armor. "That's so awesome!" It looked like standard chain mail that hung halfway down Arthur's thighs.

"Stop that!" Arthur said when Alfred circled him again. He seemed to have remembered that he was still mad at Alfred for the scones thing.

"Oh and I ate your food," Alfred said when Hong nudged him. "It's um… it wasn't as bad as it looked," he lied.

Arthur flushed a shade of red much darker than his face was before and his earlier annoyance seemed to deflate immediately. "Really?" he asked, looking entirely too pleased and hopeful. Arthur clearly was not used to getting even semi-complimented on his cooking.

"Yeah," Alfred said.

"I'll make you some more next time," Arthur said. He looked like he was trying to suppress a smile as he looked down and began fiddling with his sword. It would have been funny to watch except that it meant Alfred had to eat more of Arthur's cooking later on.

"Sure, but can I learn how to sword fight?" Alfred asked, changing the subject and looking much more eagerly at the swords again.

"And this is?" Arthur's opponent asked.

"Oh," Arthur said, jumping a little. "This is Alfred," he said. "And this is Tim, my Master-at-Arms."

"And best knight in Spades," Tim said and looked rather amused. "So who are you, Alfred? The one that pissed off our Queen enough to come down here and vent?" he asked.

The conversation was cut short when a servant came hurrying up to them. "Your majesty, the King of Diamonds has arrived."

Arthur turned. "What?"

"The King of—"

"I heard you. I want to know what he's doing here," Arthur said.

The servant, a pretty girl, looked rather troubled. "H-He sent notice of his visit four days ago," she said.

"Why wasn't I informed of this?" Arthur demanded, making the girl flinch back.

"I don't think she knows," Alfred pointed out and flashed the girl a smile.

"Ugh, as though this day wasn't bad enough," Arthur said and shoved his sword and helmet at Tim. "Have someone take care of that," he said. "I've got an audience."

"You aren't going to change?" Alfred asked, following Arthur although no one had asked him to. He was curious to know what the other kings of this world were like.

Arthur spared a brief glance down at his armor and grinned. "No," he said. "I probably should have brought the sword along too to chop off his stupid hair."

"You don't like him very much, do you?" Alfred said, starting to get an idea.

"At all, you mean," Arthur said, stopping just outside the throne room. He turned suddenly to Alfred, brushing him off at the shoulders and straightening his collar for him.

"What are you doing?" Alfred asked, a bit taken aback.

"You can't go to an audience looking like that," Arthur said which was rich coming from someone who still had bits of cobweb clinging to his hair even though he had changed out of his former outfit into the armor. Arthur reached up and began smoothing back Alfred's hair. "Can't you do something about that cowlick?"

"You're the one who looks like you just rolled out of bed," Alfred said.

Arthur glared at him and let out a put-upon sigh. "Whatever. Let's go before the frog starts molesting the help," he said. "Just stay quiet and let me do the talking."

It was for good reason too, Alfred found, when Arthur swept into the throne room and Alfred abruptly felt like the most underdressed man in the world.

The entourage of Diamonds was made up of the most extravagantly dressed people Alfred had ever seen. In a myriad of rich oranges and yellows, they wore what looked like proper dress for the 17th century French court. There were women in soft flowing peach-colored dresses, and men with orange coats and those poofy breeches. Instead of spades, all of their clothing was decorated with diamond patterns and sometimes just plain diamonds. At the very front of the group was a man with long hair and stubble, and as he was the only one of the group with a crown on his head, Alfred assumed he had to be the King of Diamonds.

The King of Diamonds came forward, holding a flower which he twirled in his hands before presenting it to Arthur.

"My dear, you look hideous as always," the King of Diamonds said, smiling at Arthur who glared at him.

"Cut the crap, Francis," Arthur said, curling his fist around the flower and letting its petals fall to the ground. "What are you doing here?"

Compared to Francis, Arthur, even in his armor, looked severely plain.

"Not even a greeting kiss for an old friend?" Francis asked. He spoke with a heavy French accent and everything about his behavior was stereotypically French just like Arthur was so stereotypically British. They even hated each other stereotypically. "Ah, but I do not want to receive a kiss from you if you just ate your cooking. Even second-hand tasting of your food could irreparably ruin my delicate taste buds."

"My cooking isn't bad, wanker!" Arthur snapped and made as though to strangle the King of Diamonds.

Hong hadn't been kidding when he said Arthur was sensitive about his cooking.

"And who is your delightful manservant?" Francis asked, turning his attention to Alfred. He gave Alfred a very obvious once-over that made Alfred feel like he had just been visually stripped in an extremely suggestive way that left no room for interpretation. "Not a bad one you've got there. Care to—"

"This is my new fiancé, Alfred," Arthur snapped. "And this minger is Francis, the King of Diamonds – unluckily for them."

Francis hardly seemed insulted but his eyes went half-masted, directed at Alfred. "Are you sure you want to marry this uncouth queen? Come to my court and I'll make it worth your while," he said.

"No you won't!" Arthur said.

"Yes I would," Francis answered, gesturing with one hand. "After all, I've got better looks, better styles, much better clothes, and of course better food," he said. "Among other things," he added.

The "other things" was what worried Alfred what with the looks Francis was shooting at him.

Arthur was turning progressively redder which was rather funny to watch until his green eyes started welling up and Alfred realized, to his horror, that Arthur was about to start crying.

"Oh crap, don't cry," Alfred said, panicking.

"I'm not crying, you stupid tosser! If you want to go with him then just go!" Arthur said, wiping at his damp eyes. "Everyone else does."

Alfred had no idea how to deal with a crying person even if Arthur was more sniffing than crying. Tears, and especially tears on account of Alfred just made him feel awful until he'd do anything to get the person to stop.

Gingerly, Alfred reached out and touched Arthur's shoulder. "I'm not going with him. We're already married, remember?" he said. "It's not like we can even undo that if we wanted to."

Arthur stopped his stifled sniffling and looked up. "R-Right," he said. "Sorry, I just… he wins _everything_," he said, looking rather embarrassed about the spectacle.

Alfred patted him awkwardly some more, wondering about Arthur's particular past with Francis. Arthur was surprisingly fragile for someone who was so aggressive and had the vocabulary of a sailor.

Applause came from the side and Alfred saw Francis clapping with an amused grin on his face. "You know, I never thought our bushy-browed Arthur could ever find someone who could tolerate him, much less actually _love_ him, but—"

"Whoa there," Alfred interrupted. "Whoever said anything about love?" he blurted out in a panic. He didn't think he'd ever been in love before. He'd had a couple of girlfriends in the past who he got along with and quite liked, but there was nothing that said _love_. He'd always vaguely assumed that once he'd graduated and got a good job, he'd eventually meet the right woman, settle down, have 2.5 children and maybe a dog, and so on – the American dream and all that. He had not factored in on getting himself accidentally married to a grouchy man, and even though he now apparently was, it certainly had nothing to do with free will. "I am _not_ in love with you!"

That caused everyone to stare at him.

"Y-You—" Arthur now looked like he was trying to decide between several execution options for Alfred and like he might start tearing up again except in rage this time.

Francis, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow. "Ah, I see. You want to be King of Spades so you have seduced our stuffy queen," he said. "Wonderful. Then I shall discuss business with you, King Alfred," he said and suddenly turned serious. "I want your allegiance and help to fight against Hearts."

Francis stepped forward. "As you know, Clubs is falling apart and Hearts has declared war on my kingdom."

"Wait, can someone explain this war thing to me?" Alfred said, interrupting Francis who looked surprised this time. Up until now, Alfred had heard Arthur mention it a few times, and the others allude to it, but no one had explained just what was going on.

Francis raised an eyebrow. "After all this time, and you've chosen a king as dull as you are," Francis said to Arthur. "Where did you find him? Under a rock?"

"He is not the king yet," Arthur said and pinched Alfred when he began to ask another question. Arthur shot a glare at Alfred who went quiet, a little annoyed because he still wasn't getting any explanations. "If you have business to discuss, it is with _me_ until the coronation."

Francis shrugged. "Very well. I want your allegiance," he repeated. "You know as well as I do that if Hearts manages to take over my kingdom, yours will be next."

"Yes, but I hate you more than I hate anyone in Hearts," Arthur said dryly. "What do I get out of this deal?"

Francis looked pained. "Must you be like this all the time? It is no wonder you have no friends," he said.

Arthur went red. "I do _so_ have friends," he snapped. "And that's not the issue here. Make me an offer and we'll talk. If you expect free help from me, you can bugger off now."

"All my resources are going to my troops right now," Francis said, gritting his teeth. "My people are already dying on the front lines keeping Hearts at bay."

"Then a promise for the future," Arthur said, heartless.

Alfred was beginning to get an idea of just how ruthless these politics could be, and he didn't like it.

"Hey, if he needs help – I mean, if people are dying, shouldn't we help?" Alfred spoke up.

Arthur shot a warning glare at him but Alfred didn't back down.

"We can't let innocent people die," Alfred said.

"Keep out of this, Alfred," Arthur said.

"We'll help you," Alfred said firmly.

Francis brightened immediately. "Thank you," he said, completely serious, and inclined his head in a short bow. "I am indebted to you, King of Spades."

"Alfred, a word, _now_," Arthur said, grabbing Alfred by the arm. "And we do _not_ agree to anything. Come back with terms of a treaty and then we'll talk," he shouted back at Francis before dragging Alfred out of the throne room.

"What the fucking hell were you thinking?" Arthur shouted as soon as they were outside. "Do you know what you've just done?"

"Yeah, I just promised to help keep people from dying," Alfred said.

"No, you know what you just did?" Arthur said. "You just promised _our_ resources and people to die for a war we aren't involved in yet!" he said. "You have no idea what is going on here, boy, and I'll be damned if you drive my kingdom to the ground just because you want to play hero in a war you don't even understand."

Alfred went silent. He hadn't thought about things that way, but Arthur was right. If they helped the Kingdom of Diamonds, it meant the people of Spades would die in a war. But if they didn't help, then more people in Diamonds would die. In textbooks or the news, it had always seemed so distant – war was made up of motives and numbers and mentions of atrocities, but no one had mentioned the pressure it could put on one man to decide the fate of a kingdom or how choices weren't as simple as black and white. Alfred didn't want anyone to die.

"Never mind, you didn't know any better," Arthur said after a moment and exhaled. "Just leave everything to me. I'll take care of it." He pressed a hand to his forehead, massaging it for a moment before he looked up, calm again. "I need a good bath," Arthur said, wrinkling his nose as he pulled off his gloves. "I should also explain a few things to you so you stop saying completely stupid things. Come with me."

They took several more turns in the castle before Alfred recognized the stairs leading to the wing that Hong had said was for the royalty. Arthur didn't say anything to him, but he didn't seem annoyed anymore by the time they'd reached the stairs, much to Alfred's relief. He didn't need the one person who seemed to be watching out for him here to be angry with him.

When they climbed up to the royal suites, it got much quieter. Alfred assumed it was because only he, Arthur, and Yao would have rooms in this section of the castle so not many others went there.

"These are Yao's chambers," Arthur said, pointing to one of the doors they passed. "Mine are further down, and yours are at the very end," he said.

"What are all these other rooms then?" Alfred asked because the hallway was lined with doors, each more ornate than the last.

"They're for the royal families when they stay here," Arthur said.

"We can't have kids. I'm a guy and as far as I can tell, so are you," Alfred said.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I've already explained that our marriage is only political," he said. "These are my chambers," he said and opened one of the doors to reveal a room that looked incredibly out of place in a castle and more like a Victorian parlor than anything else. There were beautiful stitched chairs and a small table with a tea set on it. There was also a duvet with embroidered pillows, and to the sides, Alfred could see cupboards filled with china tea sets and figurines. The curtains too were embroidered and there was a big fireplace at one end of the room, framed on either side by bookshelves.

The entire room gave off the impression of belonging to an old British lady who probably owned a lot of cats. Alfred nearly laughed out loud when indeed, two cats came running out from behind a couch. The first was a mottled cat with folded ears and two big tufts of fur on its face that made it look like it had enormous eyebrows. The other one was the biggest cat Alfred had ever seen with a dark ring of fur around its collar. Its tail was wagging furiously as it all but leapt on Arthur who had crouched down to greet his pets. Alfred heard Arthur laugh for the first time, holding the fat cat with one arm and petting the other one on the head, and all the tension seemed to seep out of him.

"I'm back," Arthur said and it was strangely adorable to watch him so happy to see his cats who were apparently just as happy to see him. "Has Yao been feeding you? Clearly, he has been feeding _you_, America," he said. "You have to go on a diet."

Alfred paused. "Did you just call your cat America?" he asked.

Arthur turned. "Yes, this is America," he said, straightening up with the fat cat cradled in his arms. "And that is England," he said, gesturing to the smaller cat that promptly sat on Arthur's foot and turned curious green eyes at Alfred.

Those were probably the strangest names Alfred had ever heard any pet named before, but then he didn't know if America and England meant anything in this world at all. Alfred promptly forgot all about Arthur's bizarre names when a third thing came flying out and landed, scrambling on Arthur's shoulder.

"Flying mint bunny," Arthur said happily to the strangest looking creature Alfred had ever seen.

"What _is_ that?" Alfred asked. It looked like…it looked like a green bunny with wings.

"Flying mint bunny," Arthur repeated as it snuggled his cheek. Alfred was distinctly getting the feeling that Arthur got on with animals a lot better than humans. In fact, judging by the room, Arthur really _was_ one of those old cat ladies except without being old or a lady.

Arthur went over to the table, setting down the huge cat and the flying bunny though America meowed until Arthur laughed and fed it a burnt cookie from his table.

"Tea?" Arthur asked as he took began undoing his armor.

"No thanks," Alfred said, rather afraid that Arthur's tea might be as bad as his cooking. "You need help with that?" he asked, watching Arthur struggle with his vambrace, trying to get it off one-handed.

"No," Arthur said so Alfred just watched as Arthur managed to wrangle his armor off piece by piece himself. Arthur was rather red-faced and sweaty again with effort by the time he managed to pull the padded aketon over his head.

England the cat had wandered over to Alfred in the meanwhile and was staring up at him from his feet. "Hey," Alfred said and leaned down to try and pick up the cat, only to get scratched for his troubles.

The cat meowed and trotted over to the couch where America the cat was sitting, and hopped up on it, curling up next to the other cat.

Arthur let out a sigh and went to pour tea for himself before he sat back at the table. "About the marriage," he said.

"Yeah, can you explain it to me now so it will actually make sense?" Alfred said.

"What do you want to know?" Arthur asked, taking a sip of the tea and letting out such a sigh of bliss that Alfred nearly began grinning at him again for being so utterly British.

"Who was the old king?" Alfred asked, remembering that blank space for a portrait in the dining hall. "What happened to him?"

"There hasn't been one for ages," Arthur said calmly. "Look, as I've already said, being royal here is only a position. The King, Queen, and Jack rule a kingdom together – each with different jobs," he said. "Most of the time, the King and Queen aren't even married and usually in the cases when they are, it's purely political."

"That doesn't make any sense at all," Alfred said, beginning to reach for a biscuit only to remember what Arthur's cooking was like and drew his hand back again.

Arthur sighed. "It's very simple," he said. "Kings, Queens, and Jacks usually belong to different families of nobility in a country. In Spades, the Wang family have been Jacks for as long as anyone can remember. My family – the Kirklands – have been Queens. It's usually a position that is passed down by inheritance."

"So what? Your dad was the last Queen or something?" Alfred asked.

"No," Arthur said shortly and glared at Alfred. "Occasionally, when there are _mistakes_, someone will die without an heir and we get new blood like you taking the throne through marriage," he said. "The old king had no heir apparent, so whoever I, the queen, married would be the new king. As I've now married you, you're the new king. Is that simple enough for you?"

Alfred ignored the dripping sarcasm. "So what did you mean by the royal families then?" he asked.

"These positions usually belong to families, as I've already explained," Arthur said with a put-upon sigh. "Most of the noble families here have their own estates elsewhere in Spades. Sometimes they will have to stay at the capitol here for various reasons and then they'll use those rooms," he said. "When you have children, one of them will be expected to stay here to train as your heir, of course."

"But we're married – so…"

"Don't be daft," Arthur said. "Marriage is only political. You'll be expected to have children and so will I to inherit the throne. And yes, before you ask, the children will be illegitimate and no one will care," Arthur said dryly.

Alfred frowned, looking thoughtfully at Arthur. "So then you were…"

Arthur glared at him. "I was completely legitimate as is my position and title," he snapped and since it was quite clear by the way Arthur was daring Alfred to say another word, that he might attempt to make sure Alfred never had any children – legitimate or not – Alfred dropped the subject.

"Fine, another question," Alfred said which was when America the cat suddenly decided he didn't want to cuddle with England anymore and jumped off the couch, trotting over to Alfred and meowing at him until Alfred picked him up. The cat was even heavier than it looked when Alfred sat it down on his lap, but it was incredibly friendly and it began to purr as soon as Alfred petted it.

"Why exactly were you asleep in that castle?" Alfred asked. "I swear I saw you more than … twelve years ago," he said, doing the math quickly. "Do you remember? I was a kid – ten years old and you showed me how to get out of the castle."

Arthur frowned suddenly. "I…" He paused. "You didn't wear spectacles back then," he said.

"It _was_ real," Alfred said, leaning forward and nearly dumping America on the ground.

"I thought that was a dream…" Arthur said slowly, staring at Alfred. "Did you… did you kiss me back then?" he asked.

Alfred shook his head. "Of course not," he said.

"That doesn't make any sense then. I shouldn't have been able to wake up. And you said twelve _years_ passed?"

"Yeah," Alfred said.

"But I've only been gone here for five days," Arthur said. "I've got to talk to Yao about this," he said and stood up. "Ugh," he muttered, looking in distaste at his clothes, and then shook his head. "I'll show you your rooms. You can wash and get some rest."

Alfred picked up America and set him down on the couch again before following Arthur out the door. Arthur opened the door at the very end of the hallway.

"There," Arthur said. "If you need anything, there's a cord you can use to call a servant up," he said and left the same way he had come, footsteps fading rapidly down the hallway.

Alfred was only a little bit clearer about the situation, and he hadn't even gotten to ask Arthur all those questions about the war going on or how to get home and how the hell their marriage was even supposed to work out and why that meant Alfred was married to Arthur even though few previous marriages seemed to have worked that way.

It was clear that Arthur wasn't going to come back for more questioning at the moment though, and now that Arthur mentioned it, Alfred really was feeling very tired, so he went into the door Arthur had opened for him and looked around.

The rooms assigned to the King of Spades were much more in keeping with the type of medieval chambers that Alfred had expected to see unlike that tea parlor thing that Arthur had in his own room. Although it was a bit darker than Alfred liked, the antechamber was set up like a big study with several writing desks and tables. There were also bookshelves and a big fireplace just like in Arthur's room, though nothing in the room indicated what the previous king might have been like.

Alfred opened doors in the antechamber until he found the bedroom that held an old-fashioned, canopied bed with high posts and ridiculously embroidered bedcovers sewn all over with gold thread. He threw himself down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately with the late-afternoon sunlight streaming down from the windows.

* * *

><p>When Alfred woke up again, it was either very late or else very early because the only thing coming through the windows now was moonlight.<p>

Alfred winced as he sat up. Apparently he had gone into deep sleep so fast that he hadn't moved an inch from where he'd flopped face-first onto the bed and now his glasses were slightly crooked and it hurt a little where the nosepiece had been digging into his face.

Alfred took his glasses off and massaged his face, yawning. He was hungry again too. He got to his feet and stretched, feeling both more himself now that he'd slept, and also more afraid. He wasn't back at home in his little flat. He was still in this world and his forehead still throbbed and his eyes were dry and he really wanted a toothbrush. This world seemed more real with every passing moment even with all the nonsensical anachronisms. But it wasn't like he would be stuck here forever, Alfred told himself more optimistically. After all, Arthur had somehow managed to get to Earth to begin with.

Determined to stay optimistic, Alfred decided to go in search for food instead. Sometime while Alfred was asleep, torches had been lit along the hallway that cast both light and also a lot of eerie shadows on the stone. Arthur's room was just a few doors down and Alfred figured Arthur would probably be grumpy but okay with being woken up by him, so he went and knocked on the door. There was no answer from inside which might mean Arthur was just asleep, so Alfred tried the knob that gave easily.

He walked into Arthur's antechamber again and noticed immediately that it was much brighter than Alfred's room. There was a fire burning in the fireplace and lamps hung up around the room that were all lit.

Alfred saw a cat bed by the fire and America, who had apparently been sleeping, perked up when Alfred walked in. It struggled out of the bed that it was sharing with England, eliciting an irritated yowl from England, and trotted over to Alfred, yawning.

"Where's Arthur?" Alfred asked, bending to scratch America behind the ears. The green flying bunny was nowhere to be seen.

Alfred shut the door behind him and went to look for England's bedroom. The first room he opened lead to a washroom that held a ceramic tub that was filled with water and, of all things, rose petals. The entire bath smelled like roses, but there was no sign of disturbance in the room other than a bucket that was set by the tub, and when Alfred put a hand in the water, the water was cold. It clearly hadn't been used.

He closed that door and went to Arthur's bedroom. But just like the bath, the bedroom was empty with the bed undisturbed. Arthur's discarded armor in the antechamber was all gone, but clearly it was a servant who had come in to fill Arthur's bath, light all the lamps, and take away his armor. Arthur himself hadn't been here in awhile.

Alfred frowned and left Arthur's room, wondering what time it was and where Arthur had gone. Was he still having his meeting with Yao? Alfred followed the trail of torches down the corridors, heading in the general direction he remembered the kitchen being in. It had to be quite late at night because Alfred didn't see anyone at all.

Instead of the kitchen, Alfred found himself passing by the library. At first, he was going to walk right past it, but then he heard voices coming from inside. There were still people in there and maybe they could tell him how to get to the kitchen again.

Alfred opened the door of the library that was also much darker than before. There was a lamp sitting on the messy desk that Yao had been using, but the voices came from further down in the library.

Alfred followed the sound past several bookshelves before the voices got clear enough for him to recognize – one of them was Yao, and the other was Arthur. So Arthur really had been here the whole time.

"About Alfred," he heard Yao say and it effectively stopped Alfred in his tracks.

"He's not fit to be king," Arthur said. "He isn't meant to be one – he's only a boy."

Arthur had been so insistent that Alfred was now married to him, going to be the King of Spades, and everything, that this didn't sound right. Up until now, Alfred had more or less only been doing as Arthur told him to, so the sudden declaration took Alfred by surprise.

"We agree for once," Yao said. "I expected you to marry into an old family until the enchantment, and that shouldn't have become an issue until thousands of years later. I heard Alfred agreed to help Francis."

When Alfred slowly peered around the bookshelf, he saw Yao and Arthur standing over a big tome that they were both holding up and apparently consulting. A lamp was set on the shelf above them, casting their faces in shadows. Alfred ducked back behind the shelf, curious to know what they were saying about him.

"I only just managed to stop him, and only because I introduced Alfred as my fiancé," Arthur said. "If Francis knew he really was already the King of Spades…"

"That idiot," Yao said. "We cannot have a king with no experience in this country. Not now."

"He's a child," Arthur said. "Maybe, if there was time to train him…"

"We don't have time anymore. Clubs is in chaos and Diamonds is pressuring us for an alliance. Alfred could never lead us into battle when it comes," Yao said. His voice was quiet, hushed, but clear. Obviously neither of them expected anyone to be listening to their conversation. "He has no idea how to fight, and no idea how politics work here."

"Well, we're going to have to come up with a way to make time," Arthur said. "What's done is done now, thanks to the enchantment," Arthur said. "Maybe if we got a figurehead – a pretend king to play the part for now…"

"It wouldn't work," Yao said. "Francis has already seen him."

Arthur snorted. "Francis will believe anything I say right now. He's the one begging me for help."

Yao shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We need a real king. But I did have a plan, just in case something went wrong… there might be a loophole to disinherit Alfred."

"You never said anything about that," Arthur said.

"I am not sure of it myself. It is only something I've studied. I hoped it wouldn't come to this," Yao said. "If the new king were from our world, then the bond would be unbreakable, but he's from the other world."

Alfred listened harder, his pride a little wounded that both Arthur and Yao thought he was completely incapable of being a good king. It was true that Alfred had no experience being royalty and the the only things he knew about kings were what he learned in the textbooks. Still, it smarted a little that Arthur and Yao had such a low opinion of him.

"What? That doesn't mean anything," Arthur said. "Once he's king, he's king."

"No, those are the rules of _our_ world. I've studied as many cases as I could find," Yao said. "Since Alfred is from the other world, we might be able to severe the bond between the two of you and therefore, the kingship by proxy."

"That would kill us both and leave the nation completely vulnerable," Arthur said. "You know as well as I do, he and I – we have a… a special relationship now."

"Not if you kill him in the other world," Yao said. "The rules here do not apply to that world. The kingship may be able to be severed if we bring him there and do it."

Alfred swallowed hard as his heart beat faster.

"We can't kill him," Arthur repeated. "He's only a boy."

"We have the fate of a kingdom at stake," Yao said.

"Couldn't we just… just leave him in the other world?" Arthur asked. He sounded hesitant and unhappy about the idea.

"You know as well as I do that the old king has to die before a new one can take the throne and Alfred cannot be the King of Spades," Yao said.

Alfred heard Arthur sigh. "How do you even know this will work?"

"I will do more research," Yao said. "Of course we will do nothing until we are sure, but I am telling you there is a good chance this may work. Do not get too attached to him – for your sake, and for the kingdom."

There was another long pause.

"I understand," Arthur said finally.

Alfred began backing away from the shelf the way he had come. His skin tingled, his palms were sweating, and he felt more alert and awake than he ever had before in his life. By a complete stroke of luck, he had just heard the plans for his future murder.

Alfred left the library as quietly as he could, and hearing no one behind him, he hurried down the corridors back to his rooms where he remembered the shelves and shelves of books were. He had to begin studying right away. This was no longer just a dream or a game. If Alfred wanted to survive, he needed information and he needed to learn everything fast. The only way he was going to stay alive was if he could play his part as the King of Spades which no one – not even Alfred – was entirely sure he could do right. Alfred didn't know the politics or history here, or all the intricacies of court and etiquette and what he should or shouldn't do, but he would have to study them all. He had to find a way to get back home without being tracked by Arthur and Yao or any other person from this world who might follow him back. And until then, he would learn all he could about this world and this war and act as the King of Spades so perfectly and convincingly, that no one would ever know Alfred's own agenda.

There was no one in this world he could trust. Alfred had been dragged into this world by mistake and was trapped here now as a pseudo king that no one took seriously. Arthur wasn't looking out for Alfred's well-being, but his kingdom's, and it was the same for everyone else here. Alfred might be stuck in Spades for now, but he'd get freedom again all on his own.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC?<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Alfred spent that first night in Spades looking through title after title on his bookshelves. Yao and Arthur were still in the library so Alfred couldn't go there for research, but right now, his top priority was to find out how he could get home, and meanwhile, stay alive.

On the way back to his chambers, Alfred had come up with a plan that was vague at best, but all he could work with at the moment until he had more information.

The first was to find how to get home again without leaving a trace.

The second was to gather information about the kingdoms and war here so he could at least play the part of a king. If he could do it convincingly enough, he might even persuade Arthur and Yao to let him live, though the chances of that were small considering they seemed to think the entire kingdom would be at war in days. At the very least, if he could convince citizens here that he was the king, Arthur and Yao might hesitate more to kill him. Politics had always been Alfred's least favorite part of his archaeology major, but also inevitable considering it was the government that was a huge part of any culture. Now it looked like he'd be getting good at it all on his own.

And the third was to learn how to fight. Alfred had always been an active kid and he'd played a variety of sports growing up, but he'd never learned any sort of combat sport before. If the first two parts of his plan failed him, at least he could learn how to defend himself so if it came down to it, he might physically keep Arthur from killing him at least.

The first two parts of his plan were easier said than done. As far as magic went, Alfred couldn't decipher either one of the two books he found on the subject in his room. They seemed to be written in a combination of Old English, Latin, runes, and some vaguely Asiatic-looking type of a language. The few words that Alfred could decipher were so scattered and sparse that he could only give up for now until he could sneak to the library to find a book that did make sense.

The second part of his plan was difficult due to the sheer quantity of materials he had to study. Alfred wasn't even sure where to begin, but for this, he thought he could probably get Arthur or Yao to help him. They'd want him to play the part right, after all.

The third part of his plan though, was surprisingly, unexpectedly easy.

* * *

><p>"Scheit, that's some arm you've got," Tim said.<p>

All of Alfred's problems suddenly seemed very far away as Alfred stared at the two halves of the blunted practice sword he'd been given. He still held the hilt in his right hand, but half of the blade was lying glittering on the dusty ground of the courtyard.

The first thing Alfred had done in the morning after a sleepless night was to find the Master-at-Arms and get some training. Tim had been coming out into the courtyard with a couple of his knights for some early-morning practice, and though the soldiers all seemed to be somewhat amused at Alfred's eagerness, Tim had agreed. So Alfred had been handed a blunted practice sword and then Tim had charged at him in what Alfred assumed was supposed to be a very immediate, hands-on sort of lesson.

Alfred had instinctively raised his sword up to block Tim. The next thing he knew, his sword had snapped in half and Tim's sword was now quivering where it was buried six inches into the stone wall of the castle.

No knight was laughing at Alfred now.

"You have some sort of magic?" Tim asked. "Where did you say you came from?"

"Uh… England," Alfred said, flexing his fingers and staring at the broken hilt he held.

Tim shrugged. "Never heard of it," he said. "One of those little villages?"

"Sort of," Alfred said, fidgeting as Tim circled around him, reassessing him. Alfred was just as shocked as Tim was. Alfred was proud to say he was pretty athletic – he used to be on both the basketball and the football team when he was in high school. Even in university when he had less time to play sports, he still worked out nearly every day so it was safe to say Alfred was pretty confident about his strength. But this was just unnatural – it was a very _good_ unnatural. For all the things that had gone wrong in coming to this world, superhuman strength was one that Alfred and probably every other guy could definitely get used to. Talk about an awesome silver lining.

Tim whistled. "What do they feed you there? You really don't know how to fight at all?"

Alfred shook his head and Tim started to look like it was his birthday come early.

"You are going to be one hell of a fighter," Tim said.

And then Tim more or less abandoned his other knights, telling them to train on their own, so he could spend all morning testing Alfred. Alfred was definitely okay with this because he wanted to know just how strong he was too. First, Tim made Alfred first lift a whole bunch of random things just to see what he could do. Alfred found it all too easy to pick up an entire cow with just one hand though the cow didn't really like that. It was like he hardly even felt the weight. Then they found out that if Alfred wanted to, he could bend swords and crumple armor with his bare hands. When Alfred was told to throw a spear, it not only shattered the target, but buried itself in the castle wall too.

"Queen's not going to be too happy about that," Tim commented as they watched three knights work together to pull the spear out of the stone.

To temper his newfound superhuman strength, though, Alfred had absolutely no skill in fighting whatsoever. Shooting a bow-and-arrow was very different from shooting hoops or even how to fire a gun – apparently guns didn't exist in this world. Swords were easier if Alfred could keep from breaking them, but it soon became clear that Alfred really needed to learn to control his strength.

In the end, Tim simply had Alfred do simple endurance exercises until Alfred got more used to his new strength.

Alfred was seeing how many push-ups he could do one-handed without getting tired – and so far the count was 536 though he had started sweating – when Arthur walked up to him.

"I've been looking for you," Arthur said and Alfred finished off the last couple, making it an even 550 before he got to his feet. Wow, like this, he could break Navy SEAL records no problem.

"I just did 550 pushups," Alfred said, dusting off his hands. Despite his new strength, though, he didn't seem to have gotten magically ripped. It would have been fucking awesome if he'd suddenly grown a ten-pack and gallon-sized biceps, but Alfred could deal with just having magical strength.

"You just did what?" Arthur asked.

"I'm like Superman, dude, this is awesome," Alfred said, still feeling way too excited about his super strength to care too much about his possible assassination. Arthur couldn't make a move until they got back to England anyway, and Alfred definitely wasn't afraid of any attacks on himself at the moment. Not when he could probably take on at least half and maybe even more of Arthur's little regime of knights in the castle.

"Do all of you guys here have superpowers or something? Well, you can do magic and stuff, right?" Alfred said.

Arthur frowned. "What are you talking about? Magic is a skill you can learn," he said. He looked cleaner – probably having gotten around to that bath finally.

"No it's not. I have magic strength. Look," Alfred said, unable to resist showing off a little, as he grabbed a metal staff lying nearby and then neatly bent it in half.

It was pretty satisfying to watch how huge Arthur's eyes got. Especially when Alfred bent the staff right back into shape again. This was like the movies except even better, cause it was real life and Alfred had the superpower.

"That's not natural," Arthur breathed, and he looked so impressed by it that Alfred swelled with pride. In the short time he'd known Arthur, Alfred could already tell Arthur wasn't someone easy to impress. "Do it again."

Who was Alfred to say no if Arthur wanted a show? So Alfred did it again and bent the staff into a pretzel shape before undoing it.

"That's… that's _inhuman_," Arthur said. "This is amazing. Could you do it before? Is _that_ what people in your world are like?" he asked. "We should go back and bring all whole army of you back. We'd win the war for sure!" he said excitedly.

"Whoa there, no," Alfred said. "I couldn't do that when I was still in England," he said. "And you are _not_ going to go around kidnapping more people. That's illegal."

"I suppose…" Arthur said though he still sounded entirely too thoughtful as looked at Alfred. "This could really work out for us," he said reaching out to touch Alfred's bicep.

Let it never be said that Alfred was immune to flattery, because he flexed and felt very pleased when Arthur looked impressed. "I threw a spear and it broke the target," Alfred couldn't resist telling Arthur, feeling like he'd done something right for once. "I can probably carry an entire car if I had to."

"A car?" Arthur asked.

"Uh, like one of your chariot or cart things – whatever you have here," Alfred said.

"The boy can't fight though," Tim cut in. "At least not right away."

Arthur stopped looking so impressed. "What? Why not?" he asked.

"I don't know how," Alfred said, a little resentful since he'd liked basking in the admiration. "I only play sports at home."

"He'll need training," Tim said. "But with raw material like this, I think you're off to a good start," he told Alfred who beamed at him. "You'll train with me every day from now on."

"Fuck yeah, this is going to be awesome," Alfred said immediately.

"It'll have to wait for now, I need to talk to you," Arthur said, apparently remembering what he'd come out here for in the first place.

Alfred was reluctant to leave the courtyard and his training, but he followed Arthur to the library where Yao was already waiting.

"So what do you want me for?" Alfred asked.

"We need to discuss the wedding and coronation," Arthur said, shutting the library door behind him.

"Come, take seat," Yao said, gesturing to the desk where he was sitting. He moved a stack of books and parchment out of the way so Alfred could actually see his face.

Alfred sat down stiff and wary as his adrenaline-induced euphoria died down. He knew what Arthur and Yao had planned for him so why did they still want a coronation?

"Aren't you at war and stuff? You want to have a ceremony now?" he asked instead. It was one of the most difficult things to keep his voice neutral and unaffected, but somehow, Alfred seemed to manage it because Arthur sat down next to him without batting an eyelid.

"That is the reason we need to do this as soon as possible," Yao said with a sigh. "None of the kingdoms have had a case of royalty-by-wedding for centuries now."

"Centuries?" Alfred echoed.

"It's a bloody nuisance to elect new royalty by marriage, so we're usually quite careful not to," Arthur said. "Then I wouldn't have to be marrying an idiot."

"Hey, I didn't know this was going to happen," Alfred said. "I don't want to get married to you any more than you want to get married to me. Probably less, actually." On that fact, Alfred was completely certain. After all, Alfred wasn't out to kill Arthur. If your supposed future spouse – no matter how political the marriage – was out to assassinate you, you wouldn't be too eager about the marriage either.

Arthur turned red and began to sputter. "It's not like I want to get married to you, bloody tosser! I—I—this is much worse for me than for you!" he said which was a lame comeback at best, and on top of that, a lie. It was definitely much worse for Alfred. On the other hand, Arthur was suspiciously defensive about the subject judging by how red his face had turned and how mad he was.

"I bet _no one_ wants to marry a queen like you," Alfred said.

He must have hit the nail on the head because he could actually see Arthur visibly tense and turn even redder.

"I mean, you have the worst personality ever—you know, being a jerk all the time doesn't make people like you," Alfred said. "And you're sort of ugly, aren't you? Do they have tweezers here because you really need them." It wasn't strictly true. Actually Arthur was attractive, if a bit unconventional, but Alfred could probably list half a dozen of the girls he knew who would date a guy with Arthur's looks in a heartbeat. It certainly seemed to make Arthur mad though. "You're probably crap in bed," Alfred continued. "Also, your cooking sucks."

Arthur snapped as he reached forward and grabbed Alfred by the collar. "How dare you say any of that! Who do you think you are?"

"Your king," Alfred said. He took each of Arthur's wrists in one of his hands and slowly pulled them away from him. It was all too easy with his newfound strength, and more difficult, in fact, not to hurt Arthur in the process.

Arthur seemed to realize this as well because he went wide-eyed and seemed to be debating if he should try and attack Alfred again anyway.

"If you children are done fighting," Yao snapped. "Sit down, both of you."

They both sat down and Alfred felt vaguely ashamed even though he wasn't even really at fault. After all, he was sure anyone who knew Arthur would say the same thing.

"Alfred has a retarded amount of strength," Arthur said, glaring at him.

"You're just saying that cause you're jealous," Alfred answered.

"He says no one from his world is like that though," Arthur continued, ignoring him.

"I can probably punch through a wall," Alfred said, feeling more cheerful again. _Any_ guy would be jealous of him right now.

Yao looked thoughtful. "Do not test it on our castle, please. But some training would be a good idea…" he said.

"Tim has been testing me. He's going to train me too," Alfred said.

Yao nodded. "Okay. That might be useful when we have war… maybe it's a side effect you brought over when you came to this world?" He was beginning to look spacey again as his talking turned to mumbling. "What else can be transferred between worlds…"

"Anyway," Arthur said impatiently. "It doesn't matter whether or not you want to marry me, we're holding the wedding as soon as we can under the circumstances."

"Since you and Arthur are now contracted, we'll have to make the best of it," Yao said, back to business. "At least, we can probably postpone the war for us until the ceremonies are done – unofficially at least. Traditionally, all the royalty of every country are invited. It is unheard of not to attend a royal wedding and coronation so Hearts will not declare war on us until the wedding is over."

"What do you mean unofficially?" Alfred asked.

"We might be attacked anyway – just not by Hearts, or the Hearts military," Arthur said. "Bandit attacks can always happen. They may also pay mercenaries to stage an attack beforehand. You should watch out." Arthur shot Alfred a glance. "They might send assassins for you."

"Arthur," Yao said, frowning at him.

Arthur ignored him and kept talking. "You're the new king now, and Hearts won't want us to have you when they attack us. They'll try to weaken us before that, and you're the obvious target." Arthur began fiddling with a piece of paper on the desk. "You have your strength now, but you'll have to be trained as soon as possible. They've got—they've got other things that could hurt you. Just….be careful," he trailed off into a mumble.

For a moment, Alfred thought Arthur was actually worried about him. It was surprising because he knew that Arthur and Yao were planning to kill him too, but then, if what he'd heard last night was correct, they had to do it when they were back in England, or something bad would happen. It might not all be because Arthur was worried about him.

"As I was saying," Yao said. "The earliest we can have the wedding and coronation is four weeks. It's too much time and they'll probably attack before then, but it's the best we can do for now. We'll begin preparations right away."

Alfred cringed. "Preparations?" A couple of his friends had been married by now and he _knew_ the sorts of things that happened when people started planning weddings. This was a coronation so it was probably even worse.

"Don't look like that, no one expects _you_ to do anything," Arthur said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, Alfred, you will be studying and practicing as much as you can during this time," Yao said. "Arthur will be in charge of tutoring you."

"You'll need to know everything about this country to be king," Arthur said. "I don't expect you to learn it all right away, of course," he said. "With a mind like yours, I'd be surprised if you could learn it in a year much less four weeks, but we haven't got a choice."

"Hey, I'm smart," Alfred said, mildly offended but mostly eager. This played in perfectly with his own plans if Arthur had to teach him all the things he'd have to know about being king. And this gave Alfred at least four weeks of semi-safety at least as far as Arthur was concerned.

"We'll see," Arthur said as he got to his feet, gesturing for Alfred to follow.

"I'll have the wedding and coronation arranged," Yao said. "Just make sure you learn at least enough to get through the ceremony," he told Alfred.

Alfred nodded. He'd learn much more than was required to get through the ceremony, and then he'd leave without a backwards glance.

* * *

><p>Alfred had expected them to go back to his or Arthur's rooms to begin his education as the library seemed to be Yao's territory, but instead, Arthur lead him up to one of the shorter towers in the castle. Alfred hadn't had the chance to explore the entire castle yet – it would probably take an entire day just running up and down stairs if he wanted to. This tower was close to the royal chambers and the inside of it was like a compacted, miniature version of the library. Though the tower was only one circular room, it was incredibly furnished with a thick rug and books lining every inch of the walls there. There was an elaborate desk and several matching chairs, and at the far end of the room, there was a bizarre stand holding up a rectangular box.<p>

"This is the old king's study," Arthur said. "It's miserable in the winters, but for now, it'll do."

"Great, where do we start?" Alfred asked, poking around. The room gave off the cozy sort of feeling that old-fashioned offices did.

Arthur, even though he was the queen and not the king, appeared to know exactly where each and every one of the books he needed were. He went through the shelves, picking them out, one after the other, and stacking them on the desk until it looked nearly like Yao's desk in the library.

"You want me to read all of these?" Alfred asked, staring at the piles of books. He did need information, but this was impossible to handle all at once even with the threat of his life.

"No, there's more, but this is a start," Arthur said. "How much do you know about our world here?" he asked.

"By how much you guys have been telling me? Not much," Alfred said, plopping himself down in a chair and picking up a random book.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Don't complain, it's unbecoming," he said and went over to the weird stand, wheeling it over to the desk. "This is it," he said.

Alfred stared at the boxy rectangle. "What is this supposed to be?"

"Our world," Arthur said, and spun the rectangle. That was when Alfred realized this was actually a globe – except that it was a rectangle.

"Your world is a rectangle?" he burst out. "That's impossible. The world is round."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Everyone knows the world is flat, idiot."

"That's what they thought _centuries_ ago – just what age are you guys supposed to be in?" Alfred asked and then remembered the bizarre combinations of nationalities and the strange anachronisms all through this world and thought better of it. "Never mind, don't answer that."

"Anyway, it makes it quite simple for us to define borders," Arthur said. He stopped the spinning rectangle that was being balanced on the stand just like a globe would be. "Each one of these sides is the territory of one kingdom."

Alfred looked more closely at the bizarre globe. Actually, besides being the wrong shape and having landmasses that didn't look anything like Earth, it looked like a pretty legit map. On each one of the four sides was a label – Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, and Clubs. Land and ocean alike were etched all over the "globe." It seemed that in this world, territory – land and sea alike – was determine by which side of the rectangle the land and sea happened to be on. Since each side of the rectangle had the same amount of square area, the world was very evenly divided between each of the four kingdoms, though some kingdoms, like Spades had little land but lots of ocean belonging to it. Other kingdoms, like Hearts, was entirely landlocked.

"What are on the…uh… top and bottom of your world then?" Alfred asked. After all, a rectangular prism had six sides but only four of them were labeled with kingdoms. The top and bottom of the rectangular "globe" were blank.

"No one knows," Arthur said. "But it might be where the Jokers stay," he said.

On the top and bottom of the rectangular globe, it was indeed labeled 'Here there be dragons.'

"Okay… but so what happens if you want to sail over to Diamonds?" Alfred asked, pointing to the dividing line between the Diamond oceans and the Spade oceans. "You drop over the edge or something?" he asked.

"Don't be daft, of course not," Arthur said.

"You just keep going into the Diamond oceans," Alfred said.

Arthur nodded.

"But you still think your world is a rectangle?" Alfred asked.

"Everyone knows the world is flat," Arthur repeated, rolling his eyes, and then continued with his lesson. "But now you see why we're the last to be attacked by Hearts," he said.

Alfred nodded. Hearts and Spades were on opposite sides of the rectangle.

"They haven't managed to quite take over either Diamonds or Clubs yet, but it won't be long. Then they'll use one or both of the kingdoms to get to us," Arthur said.

"That's why you have to help Francis," Alfred said.

Arthur nodded. "Right," he said. "If we don't, Hearts will take us over as soon as Diamonds or Clubs falls." A small grin appeared on his face. "We don't have to make it _easy_ for Francis, though."

Arthur really had some hard-core dislike for Francis. "Just why do you hate Francis so much?" Alfred asked.

"Because he's the biggest sodding shithead in the entire fucking universe," Arthur answered immediately.

Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"Well he is," Arthur said stubbornly. "If you were there when we were growing up, you'd understand."

Alfred almost burst out laughing. "You hold a grudge against him cause he what? Bullied you as a kid?" he asked.

Arthur began turning red. "It wasn't just _bullying_," he snapped. "He made my life miserable! All the other royalty – our kingdom is closest to Diamonds so he was always coming over, but he just got all his friends to gang up on me, fucking twat…"

"Why didn't you just get your friends to do the same?" Alfred asked. Probably not the best advice to give to a kid, but it wasn't like Arthur – being older than Alfred by a couple of years at least – was a kid.

"…. I didn't really have many…" Arthur muttered.

By which Alfred correctly translated to mean he had none.

Arthur shook himself. "Never mind that, you need to start studying," he said and opened the first book. It was roughly the size of an extended Oxford dictionary and worse, covered in not type, but spindly handwritten text. "The History of Spades," Arthur said. "We'll start with the first recorded royalty."

Alfred took a deep breath. This was going to take awhile.

* * *

><p>For all that Alfred had been determined to study, it seemed like Arthur was just as determined for him to learn as much as he could in as short an amount of time as possible. Arthur was the worst slave-driving tutor Alfred had ever come across, and worse, he seemed to know absolutely everything there <em>was<em> to know and didn't even try to pretend he wasn't proud of it.

Arthur also seemed determined to make Alfred learn just about every single little detail from what the 8th Jack of Spades's favorite hobby was – mahjong of all things – to exactly what the 15th Queen's policy on orphans was.

By the time Arthur called it a day, Alfred's head was spinning, he had a crick in his neck, and he wanted nothing more than to get up and do some physical activity after just about an entire day of sitting at a desk and memorizing everything Arthur told him to. Even their meals had been brought straight up to the study and Arthur had made him recite the names of every single city, town, and village in all of Spades in between bites.

"I suppose that'll do for today," Arthur said, closing the book right before they got to the most recent King of Spades – Alfred's predecessor.

Alfred breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back, closing his eyes and massaging his nose under his glasses.

"I'll have a schedule ready for you tomorrow," Arthur said, and Alfred heard him moving around the room, probably putting books back.

"A schedule?" Alfred asked.

"For your training," Arthur said. "You've still got to do your physical training – I'll have Tim help with that though he'll be busy with the knights too," he said. "Then there're all the things about Spades you'll still have to learn—"

"This isn't enough?" Alfred asked incredulously.

"Of course not. Today was only a crash course on our history," Arthur said. "You'll have to memorize the map of Spades, of course, and all our resources, finances, population—"

Alfred groaned. It had all sounded so much easier in his head when he'd decided to learn everything the night before. Knowing everything there was about a country was a lot harder than it sounded.

"And of course we'll have to go over military procedure and strategies," Arthur said. "When we go to battle, no one will expect you to be fighting much, of course, being new – but it'll help morale if you're giving at least an order or two on the battlefield."

Alfred perked up a little at that. At least that sounded more interesting.

"And we'll also have to go over a bit of the other kingdoms and their history too," Arthur said. "Then there'll be etiquette and—"

"Etiquette?" Alfred interrupted.

Arthur shot him a dry look. "You are a king now. You can't go around acting like the—the uncouth boy you are," he said. "Once the news really begins to spread, our people will expect you to act like a proper king. When the other royalty and nobles come for the ceremony, you absolutely cannot bollocks this up," he said. "We cannot show any sign of weakness."

"Okay, okay," Alfred said, holding up his hands in surrender.

Arthur sighed, and to Alfred's surprise, walked forward more and patted Alfred on the head like he was a child. "You did… you did better than I expected," he said after a moment. "You have a good memory. This is a lot to take in."

Since all Arthur had been doing the entire day was drilling Alfred without rest, Alfred was quite shocked by the unexpected sort-of compliment, and strangely, he felt happy at Arthur's approval – probably because Arthur was like a scary drill sergeant or teacher.

"Uh… thanks. I think…" Alfred said.

Arthur coughed and looked away. "A—Anyway, get some rest tonight. You'll have a long day tomorrow," he said.

"Okay," Alfred said, and when Arthur appeared to be waiting for him, waved him ahead. "You go ahead. I'm just going to review one more time."

Arthur nodded and left. As soon as the door shut behind him, Alfred let out a sigh and flopped back in his chair. He was dying for some physical exercise, but it looked like from tomorrow on, he was going to be even busier. Since Arthur was gone now, Alfred could begin the search he had been waiting to do.

The tower was illuminated by the lamps they'd lit, and now Alfred stood up, stretching, and began looking through row after row of book. There were more here than there were in his chambers, and sure enough, he found several books about magic in English that he could start reading. Unfortunately, once he'd gotten into it, he began realizing there was a lot more to magic than just saying some hocus-pocus. Every one of the books started out talking about power and drawing on natural magic and other such yoga-sounding philosophies. Even in the ones that did list a couple of basic spells, the spells tended to be things like brewing potions as a magical cure to warts and useless things like that.

Nowhere did Alfred find anything about traveling between worlds, and after two hours of futile searching, he gave his brain up for being able to absorb any more and went back to his chambers.

He was asleep almost as soon as he hit the bed.

* * *

><p>Alfred felt like he'd just barely gone to sleep when he was shaken awake again.<p>

"Alfred, get up."

Alfred groaned and tried to smother himself in his pillow.

"Alfred."

The shaking was insistent until finally Alfred flopped back over and squinted up at Arthur. "What time is it?" Alfred asked, groggy, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Five thirty," Arthur said.

"What? We have to start training at five thirty? That's cruel and unusual punishment…" Alfred said though he knew he needed to train as much as possible – his body just didn't agree at the moment.

"No, not training," Arthur said. "There's been reports of a possible spy."

Alfred came a little more awake at that. "A spy?"

"From Hearts," Arthur said. "One of my sentries reported seeing a stranger in the woods just outside the city. If they're already planning something, I need to investigate," he said.

Alfred sat up a little more and yawned as he groped for his glasses. "So why are you telling me?"

Arthur picked them up off the nightstand and handed the glasses over, brushing Alfred's fingers as he did. "I need to investigate and I thought… since you're … strong…" he ended in a mutter.

Alfred was definitely awake now. "You want me to protect you?" he asked and couldn't resist grinning at him.

Arthur glared at him. "Of course not. I can fight much better than you can," he said. "I just need backup. This shouldn't be a big deal so it'll be a good experience for you."

Alfred shrugged and grinned some more. "Whatever you say."

Arthur rolled his eyes and got off Alfred's bed. "Get dressed. I'll meet you by the gate," he said and left.

Five minutes later, Alfred jogged to the gate of the castle where Arthur indeed already was. Arthur frowned as soon as he saw him. "What are you wearing?" he demanded.

Alfred looked down at the plain shirt and slacks he'd been wearing ever since he got to Spades. "What's wrong with this?"

"You're going to get cold," Arthur said. "It's five in the morning."

It was a bit chilly outside, but Alfred figured they were going to be running around anyway, so he'd warm up. "It's fine. Let's go," he said.

Arthur sighed. "Don't blame me if you catch a chill," he said. He was dressed in a long blue cape the color of the Spades flag and he looked quite warm indeed though Alfred wondered how he was supposed not stand out in a cape like that. Then again, the surrounding forest _was_ unnaturally blue so maybe Arthur had something going as far as camouflage went there.

At this time of morning, the sky was still just beginning to lighten and most of the shops were still closed. Only the occasional lamplighter or baker was out, and no one seemed to care about Alfred and Arthur as they walked along the quiet streets.

By the time they left the gates of the city, it was brighter and more people were beginning to come out. There were a couple of guards standing by the city gates and after a brief conversation, one of the guards let them out through a side door next to the main gate.

Arthur didn't say much, but he seemed to know exactly where to go. Alfred wondered briefly if this was a trap for him – maybe Arthur planned to kill him now when they were alone and no one would know. But if that was true, Alfred told himself, Arthur would hardly have been fussing about what Alfred was wearing.

Beyond the city walls, there were quite a lot of cottages and fields, but there were also parts of the city wall that directly bordered the surrounding forest, and that was where they went now. Like the first time Alfred had been in the woods, it seemed peaceful and tranquil with its strange bluish flora and fauna. This early in the morning, it was even quieter and there was only the occasional early morning birdcall.

"You know where he is?" Alfred asked as they walked.

"The spy was spotted around this area so we'll just have to look," Arthur said. "If we're lucky, he hasn't moved yet."

That meant they more or less wandered aimlessly for a while, though every so often, Arthur would stop and stare at some broken twig or trampled brush.

"Are you a tracker or something?" Alfred asked as he followed.

"Shh, keep your voice down, stupid," Arthur said.

"There's no one around here," Alfred said.

Arthur exhaled. "We're going after a possible spy right now. And even if the spy _wasn't_ doing his job right, if you startle any animals or birds here, it could give still our position away too so just be quiet."

Alfred was more careful to stay silent after that though it was hard work. Arthur seemed to be able to walk very quickly and silently like one of those expert hunters in movies. Alfred, on the other hand, was beginning to realize just how inexperienced he was, because he seemed to crackle and crunch with every footstep.

Alfred was still trying to keep up while making minimal noise, when Arthur abruptly stopped, grabbing Alfred's arm, and motioned for him to be quiet.

Alfred went still, looking and listening for whatever it was Arthur had heard.

After a moment, it came in the form of a soft snore that Alfred could hear just under the occasional quiet cheep of an early morning bird.

"The spy is _sleeping?_" Alfred whispered.

Arthur glared at him and Alfred went quiet even though he doubted the snorer was going to hear his whispering.

They just stood and listened for a moment, but when the spy's soft snores continued, Arthur began creeping forward. Alfred followed close behind, and after breaching a small copse of trees, they saw their spy.

"He's a _girl_?" Alfred said.

Arthur elbowed him in the stomach just as the girl stirred. Then one moment, Arthur was glaring at Alfred, and the next moment, Arthur was two yards away and had the girl flat on her stomach with her hand twisted behind her back, half-straddling her.

The girl screamed and Alfred immediately jumped to action too, prying Arthur off of the poor girl.

"What do you think you're fucking doing, you sodding wanker!" Arthur cursed when Alfred lifted him off.

"You're hurting her," Alfred said with his arms around Arthur's stomach. He was strong but Arthur fought like a wildcat and it was all he could do to keep from getting elbowed in the face.

"She's a bloody spy, you idiot!" Arthur shouted, kicking and trying to get loose even as Alfred held him back.

Meanwhile, the girl seemed to have been startled into tears and seemed too confused to even run away.

"She's a little girl!" Alfred shouted back. "Geez, what is this? Torture? That's illegal—"

"In _your_ world maybe," Arthur answered but finally seemed to calm down when the spy didn't appear to be going anywhere and neither did he. "Put me down," he said.

Alfred slowly put Arthur down. Arthur seemed to have a very short and troubled internal debate between mauling Alfred and grabbing the spy. Luckily, the spy recovered from her startled fright and began sneaking away which prompted Arthur to pull out a sword that Alfred hadn't even noticed him carrying.

"Sit down and raise your hands," Arthur ordered.

The girl slowly sat down and did as told. Now that he got a better look at her, Alfred saw that she really was very young – probably no more than sixteen years old with dark hair, tan skin, and a pair of pigtails.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked, advancing on her.

"Seychelles," the girl answered when she saw the sword advancing along with Arthur.

"You're a spy for Hearts," Arthur said, flicking one of her hair ties with the tip of his sword. They were shaped like hearts.

After a moment, Seychelles gave a quick nod.

Arthur's glare turned into one of the most intimidating smirks Alfred had ever seen on a person. "Why are you here?" Arthur demanded. "Who else is with you, those bastard Hearts."

"I'm alone!" Seychelles said.

"Lies. Hearts would never send an inexperienced little girl like you to spy for them," Arthur said.

"It's true!" Seychelles said, indignant. "I came on my own because if I could get some useful information, the Hearts royalty might help me…"

Alfred tuned out half-way through her sob story that went something like her family used to be rich nobility in Hearts but somehow their land had been taken over and now, as the oldest child, Seychelles was expected to watch the rest of the family and provide for them. Somehow, she'd gotten it into her head that since she was too young to join the Hearts military, she'd do some amateur spying on her own, take the information back, and exchange it for her family's property back. It sounded completely unbelievable, but since this world was so crazy, Alfred supposed it might possibly be true.

Arthur was about as inclined to believe her as Alfred though, and seemed to have decided the best way to extort the truth from her was to yell a lot.

"There's no way that's true, liar!" Arthur said.

"What do you know, monster eyebrows!" Seychelles shouted back. Apparently, not only was Seychelles not a very good spy, but neither was she a very good prisoner. After she'd gotten over the initial shock of being jumped on in her sleep, she'd recovered quite well.

"There's nothing wrong with my eyebrows," Arthur shouted and pulled one of her pigtails. "Tell me the truth!"

Seychelles yelped. "What's wrong with you? That _is_ the truth!"

Alfred wasn't too sure about Arthur's questioning methods, but he caught sight of a movement in the corner of his eye just then.

Arthur had mentioned there might be more than one spy, Alfred remembered. He frowned, squinting in the direction of the movement, but he couldn't see anything other than trees and gentle sunlight.

Then the flicker came again and more definite this time. Alfred rubbed his eyes. He glanced back at Arthur and Seychelles, but Arthur was fairly occupied. If it was another spy, Alfred was pretty confident he could catch him with his super strength anyway so he walked towards it, following the stranger flicker. Sometimes he thought he could see the shadow of a person, and other times, it was like the glint that might come off of a metal weapon.

Alfred walked past the copse of trees, Arthur's continuous yelling growing more distant, and this time, Alfred was sure he heard the sound of childish laughter.

The shadows flickered again and the laughter was louder – closer this time. In horror movies and video games, forests like the one he was in right now with creepy shadows that were accompanied by childlike laughter always meant ghosts or fairies. And since fairies didn't exist…

Alfred gulped. Oh god, he knew he should have questioned Arthur a little more about just what sorts of strange creatures lived in Spades. They had an old castle, there were knights and magic, of course there would be ghosts. And although Alfred was proud to say he didn't have many fears – he _did_ have an irrational fear of ghosts mostly because there was nothing you could do to defend against one. At least things like snakes or big insects or crazed psychopaths, you could punch if all else failed. There was nothing you could do about a ghost and right now, Alfred was in a haunted forest infested with _ghosts_.

This time, a shimmer came accompanying the laughter and Alfred was sure he caught sight of a little boy dressed in a sailor suit for just a moment.

"Oh shit, Arthur! Ghosts!" Alfred shouted.

Unfortunately, Alfred had wandered far enough that the sound of Arthur's continuous tirade was just a quite muttering in the background now and it didn't stop, probably because Arthur couldn't hear Alfred over the sound of his own voice.

"He thinks we're ghosts!" the childlike voice said and burst into laughter.

Even closer this time, Alfred saw the shimmer and the form of the child appear for just a moment. Worse, flickering into appearance next to him was a much taller ghost with red eyes. There was more than one ghost.

The taller ghost snickered. "Scared of ghosts, little king?" he asked.

Alfred's eyes widened.

"We're going to haunt you," the smaller ghost said, flitting around Alfred. Where he passed, Alfred felt a chill in the air like a cold breeze brushing past him.

"Yeah, we'll follow you when you go to sleep, eat your dinner, take a piss," the taller ghost also circled Alfred, laughing.

"Whoooo," the smaller ghost said, wiggling his fingers at Alfred.

"Oh, like he's going to fall for tha—"

Alfred screamed louder than he'd known his vocal cords were capable of. They really _were_ ghosts. And yes, Alfred knew that being afraid of ghosts was stupid. Technically ghosts couldn't really do anything to him, being incorporeal so if Alfred couldn't punch a ghost, it wasn't like a ghost could punch him either. Unfortunately, logic had nothing on irrational fear when set upon by real live – well, dead – ghosts. So Alfred scrunched his fists up in front of him though it probably couldn't protect him from ghosts, and hollered his head off.

"Man, Spades is going to have a hell of a time if _you're_ the king, shut up!" the taller ghost said. "We're not ghosts!"

Alfred stopped yelling. "You're not?" he asked after an uncertain moment.

It was very difficult not to start screaming again when the ghosts seemed to shimmer and then completely materialized right in front of Alfred. Instead, Alfred ended up gaping as he just stared, too shocked to do anything at all.

"Close your mouth," the taller ghost said. He really did have red eyes, but it seemed to be because he was an albino. His hair was completely white and his skin was an unnatural shade of pale. The smaller ghost looked shockingly like a very miniature version of Arthur. At least, the boy seemed to have the same eyebrows and shade of blond hair. He couldn't be more than twelve years old.

"What are you?" Alfred finally managed to form a question.

The smaller ghost grinned. "We're _awesome_!"

"No, _I'm_ awesome," the taller one said. "You are my apprentice of awesome, get it right."

Alfred was starting to overcome his fear because these ghosts were acting a lot less scary than he'd expected. They also didn't seem to be out to get him.

"Anyway, I'm Gilbert 'the Awesome' Beilschmidt, and this is Peter 'the Shrimp' Kirkland," the taller ghost said, gesturing to himself and then the smaller ghost.

"I'm not a shrimp!" Peter protested.

"Sure you are, compared to me," Gilbert said, grinning.

"You're not ghosts?" Alfred interrupted, confused but a lot less freaked out than he'd been before.

"Nope, we're Jokers!" Peter said, puffing his chest out.

"What?" Alfred asked. "What are Jokers?"

"Aw, the little king doesn't know anything, do you?" Gilbert said. The way Gilbert talked alternately made Alfred want to sock him in the face or just ignore him. "We're here to warn you, you're in terrible danger," Gilbert said. "You need to leave Spades right away."

Alfred stopped and stared. "Danger?"

"Terrible danger," Peter added.

"What?" Alfred already knew Arthur and Yao's plot to kill him. Then there were the possible future assassins once Hearts found out about Alfred's existence. But no one was supposed to know about either of those yet. Or maybe there was a third danger Alfred had to watch out for.

"It's—"

"Alfred!"

Alfred turned at Arthur's voice.

"Alfred, where are you?" Arthur sounded worried, but he had probably heard Alfred screaming.

The Jokers began to flicker out again as Arthur's voice grew closer.

"Wait! What danger?" Alfred asked, trying to reach and touch them, but his fingers only brushed air.

"They're coming," Peter said, his blue eyes flashing visible for a moment before he winked out entirely.

"There is a way for you to get home," Gilbert said.

"How?" Alfred demanded, but by now both Jokers were nothing but faint flickers in the light again.

"We'll be seeing you around, little king." Gilbert's voice faded until even the quiet snickering was gone.

A moment later, Arthur crashed through the trees, panting and dragging a struggling Seychelles behind him.

"Where did you go? Are you all right?" Arthur demanded. He seemed to forget about Seychelles as soon as he saw Alfred, and let go of her, running up to Alfred instead. "Why were you screaming?"

"I'm fine," Alfred said as Arthur began brushing his shoulders off and inspecting him for injuries. "Really, Arthur," he said again when Arthur kept fussing. "Should you just let her go? She's running away," Alfred pointed out when Seychelles, seeing the opportunity, began edging away again.

Arthur seemed to remember himself and glared at Seychelles who froze.

"What?" Seychelles asked. "It's not like I even _got_ any of your secrets. Well, except that you found yourself a king," she said, looking at Alfred, "But it's not like that's going to be secret for very long," she added quickly.

Arthur stopped patting Alfred down for wounds and frowned, looking at Seychelles. "Right," he said, straightening up again. "I could use you as an example of what Spades does to our enemies…" he said slowly and though it was only implied, Alfred could imagine just by the chill in Arthur's voice that it wouldn't be pleasant.

Seychelles gulped.

"But I think you'd do just as well sending a message to your precious Hearts royalty," Arthur said. "You can tell them you did your job and found our secret. Spades has a new king and if they dare attack us, we will win the war," he said, drawing himself closer to Alfred.

Arthur put an arm around Alfred's waist with a sharp warning jab to his back, and Alfred knew instinctively, what Arthur wanted him to do. They needed him to show Seychelles the unity and power they had right now – they needed to be in control. So Alfred did his best not to flinch or tense up, but slung his own arm around Arthur's shoulders, pulling him even closer. He felt Arthur warm against him, his hair brushing against Alfred's cheek, and then Arthur tilted his head, his nose pressing into Alfred's jaw.

Alfred kept his gaze steady on Seychelles, and he knew Arthur did too despite the gentle faux-affectionate nuzzling. "You can tell your King, Queen, and Jack, they're all invited to our wedding," Arthur said.

Alfred could feel Arthur's hand at his waist, pinching him when he flinched a little – a warning.

Well if Arthur thought he couldn't act the part of a proper king… Alfred shifted, looking down at Arthur whose eyes were still trained at Seychelles. If Arthur wanted a show, then Alfred would give it to him.

Alfred tilted Arthur's chin up with his free hand, watched as Arthur's eyes flickered to him and widened just marginally, and then Alfred kissed him.

It wasn't gentle or curious or affectionate. If Arthur wanted to show Seychelles who the new king was, Alfred would oblige, and so the kiss was bruising and possessive even though Alfred had no idea what he was doing and he had never kissed anyone like this before. All his past relationships had been light and easy and sweet and nothing like this. He didn't think about how it felt or how Arthur responded and Alfred didn't like doing this at all when Arthur was the last person he ever wanted a relationship with, but he had to be convincing because he knew Arthur and Yao were watching his every move, there were possible assassins out to kill him, and now there was the danger the Jokers were warning him about. He had to play his part right until he could figure out how to get home again. So Alfred kissed Arthur and felt awful when he heard Arthur's little hitched gasp against his lips as he claimed queen and country for his own.

When he pulled back again, Arthur's eyes slowly fluttered open, his lips swollen and wet. "Alfred…" he said.

Alfred felt like he should apologize, say he didn't mean to, ask if he'd hurt Arthur, but Arthur was the one who had demanded this of him, and Alfred felt like nothing more than a dirty jerk for what he'd just done.

Seychelles coughed, and Alfred was all too happy to turn his attention to her and take a step away from Arthur.

She looked probably more flustered than even Arthur did, blushing and looking very awkward. "I uh… I'll get going then…" she said.

Alfred gave a quick nod and Seychelles all but fled.

When she was finally out of sight and Alfred couldn't put it off any longer, he turned to look at Arthur – Arthur who was touching his lips and still staring at Alfred with something in his eyes that Alfred didn't understand.

Alfred took a deep breath. "Good enough acting for you?" he said.

He didn't wait to see Arthur's expression as he turned and headed back to the city.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC… thank you guys so so so much for all the ultra lovely reviews! Oh god I hope I don't disappoint anyone with this fic, haha.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**This fic is USUK. VERY MUCH SO USUK. Sorry, I forgot to mention it up to now because, uh, I assumed it was pretty obvious…but yes, very much USUK. In this part, also brief mentions of Austria/Hungary, and also some Romano/Spain. …other pairings to be announced as they appear (mostly because until I actually write it, my plans tend to change so).  
><strong>

**Scotland = William, Wales = Rhys, Ireland = Conor : which are all fairly obvious given those names!**

* * *

><p>Starting that day, Alfred fell into a strict schedule of training and studying. He'd go for endurance exercises early in the morning and then go straight to the king's study where he met Arthur. From there, they went over history and politics, names and people and titles that Alfred should know. The politics lesson was generally followed by a lesson in etiquette that was sometimes the formal dances Alfred would be required to perform, or how to make the right bows, or the exact tilt of his chin when he greeted someone, or how to walk without overbalancing a book on his head and all sorts of things that Alfred had ever only laughed about in movies and was apparently atrociously bad at.<p>

"Ow! Bloody fucking—" Arthur let out a trail of curses when Alfred, once again, managed to overbalance the stack of books Arthur had stuck on his head, and sent all the heavy tomes crashing onto Arthur's foot. "You are the clumsiest person I know!"

Alfred, who hardly thought learning how to walk without moving his head was the highlight of his day, glared back at him. "I am not clumsy – this is just stupid. Who cares if you can walk without moving your head? I chew with my mouth closed and I hold doors open for girls – that's enough etiquette for anyone."

Arthur looked even more annoyed at that. "Yes, but you're not just anyone – you're the King of Spades, you twat."

"So what? Etiquette is still the most useless thing in the whole world," Alfred said. "What is it going to do for anyone? It can't help people or make you a good king or anything! Apparently all it does is make people uptight like you," he snapped.

Arthur glared at him. "Etiquette shows your rank. You may come from a different world, but here in Spades, no one will accept you as king if you do not act the part. Do you really think people will respect a king with no experience and no skill who can't even _act_ the part? Our own people wouldn't follow you much less anyone from another kingdom. What do you think the royalty of Hearts would think if they saw you now? They'd attack immediately!"

It took a lot of willpower not to argue more, especially when Arthur was talking to him like he thought Alfred was an idiot, but Alfred reminded himself that he needed to impress Arthur and stay on his good side if he wanted to stay alive. "I didn't think of that," Alfred said after a moment. "All right."

And just like that, the fight seemed to go out of Arthur. "It's fine, um, you've never done this before," he said, looking somewhat startled and going faintly pink. He put the books back on Alfred's head. "Now walk and keep those books balanced," he said.

Alfred fought the instinct to tell Arthur just what he thought of his stupid etiquette. Because the thing was, while Alfred knew in principle, he had to become the perfect king, there was a lot more to it than he'd ever expected. Being civil to Arthur was actually much more difficult than he'd anticipated when Arthur's personality just rubbed him the wrong way. It seemed like all Arthur ever did was lecture and criticize Alfred, and Alfred had never been good at listening to anyone he didn't actually believe, and he simply wasn't good at taking any sort of criticism. Arthur also tended to be bossy, which Alfred possibly hated even more than being criticized, and if Alfred showed the slightest disagreement with anything Arthur said, Arthur would try five times harder to try and force Alfred to his point of view. He also only ever thought he was right, and even when Arthur knew he was wrong, he refused to ever come out and say it. It drove Alfred crazy.

So the result was that despite his best attempts to stay pleasant, he sometimes ended up insulting or arguing with Arthur anyway.

"Hey, Arthur, you know I didn't mean what I said before," Alfred said as he walked slowly down the room, trying to balance the books on his head as well as he could. "I mean, thanks. For teaching me all this," he said.

Arthur was silent, but when Alfred turned at the other end of the room to begin the walk back, he saw Arthur duck his head, his face red.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked.

"Y-You're welcome," Arthur said quickly before he straightened up and seemed to recompose himself. "Now pick up the pace if you can," he said. "You can't always walk so slowly."

Alfred rolled his eyes when Arthur looked away and did as told. At least Arthur was pretty easy to placate as long as Alfred was nice to him.

The only part of the schedule that Alfred actually enjoyed were the afternoons when he got to train with Tim. It had become fairly obvious that Alfred was best in hand-to-hand combat thanks to his brute strength, but he was absolutely shit when it came to anything involving far distance aim like archery or slingshots – which, naturally, had to be Arthur's best skills. But physical activity was something Alfred enjoyed quite a lot after his boring mornings, and even when Arthur came along, he wasn't quite as overbearing as usual. At least it was undeniable that Alfred was very athletic and very strong, and when he practiced sparring with Arthur, Alfred won more often than not. Arthur always claimed it was due to Alfred's unfair strength. Alfred thought he was just jealous that Alfred had mastered the art of sword-fighting so quickly.

After training, it was back to the study where Arthur and Yao would go over hundreds of figures with him about their kingdom and the other kingdoms – where strategic ports were, where the big cities and strongholds were, how many resources they had and how much the other kingdoms were estimated to have. There would often be discussions in military and naval strategy as well, though neither Yao nor Arthur seemed to think any of that was even worth trying to teach to Alfred and Alfred generally spent those sessions just listening to the other two go on.

Even the meals he ate were always dictated by practicing which fork he was supposed to use for what, and where various people would be sitting, and memorizing the sorts of toasts and speeches Alfred would be expected to give.

By the end of the day, Alfred was always mentally and physically exhausted, and it was generally due to sheer willpower that he could even bring himself to try to research more magic in the king's study. Unfortunately, this was one aspect of his studies that seemed to be going even worse than the etiquette. The books that he could find about magic were nearly indecipherable and Alfred was convinced half the time that they were written in a foreign language. Even the bits he managed to decipher were usually things about how to cure warts or make supposed love potions. Alfred never found any mention of teleportation much less traveling between worlds. There was only one hint that he managed to find regarding a spell that had once put a King of Spades to sleep that sounded like it might have to do with what had happened with Arthur, but it was only a brief footnote under sleeping potions, and Alfred couldn't find any other references to it.

Once, Alfred asked Arthur if he could learn magic as well, but all Arthur did was raise an eyebrow and say that would take much longer than they could afford and that if the wedding and coronation managed to go without a hitch, then they could talk. Arthur said nothing about sending Alfred back to England, but of course Arthur wouldn't be in a hurry to tell Alfred that he intended to kill Alfred either.

By the fifth day of the intensive training, Alfred was already used to the routine even if it was utterly exhausting. He felt like he couldn't remember a time when he'd last actually gotten some fresh air and told Arthur as much. He didn't expect Arthur to actually do anything other than to scold him some more, but it seemed that since the weather was pleasant and sunny that day, Arthur allowed them to move from the king's study to the small gardens inside the castle grounds.

"Who are the royalty in Clubs?" Arthur asked as he drilled Alfred again. They were sitting in the shade of a tree, surrounded by what seemed like half the books in the study, but the change of scenery was still refreshing and better yet, by now, Alfred thought he was finally beginning to get the hang of things.

Alfred took a deep breath. "The King is Ivan, Queen is Elizabeth, and the Jack is Roderich," he said. "And Elizabeth and Roderich are married." Arthur's two cats had followed them out and while America had immediately bounded out to explore the garden, England had sniffed around but settled down next to Alfred. Alfred ignored it, remembering what had happened the last time, and looked down, surprised, when he felt something soft and furry nudge his hand.

England was butting against his hand, and refused to stop until Alfred slowly reached down and touched its ears. England let out a low, rumbling purr, and Alfred grinned, petting the cat.

"Close. The Queen's name is Elizabeta," Arthur said. "All right. Hearts?" he asked. He seemed more relaxed today, though it might have just been the gardens or maybe he was getting tired with the extensive training regime as well. Either way, he was leaning back against a short plum tree, looking relaxed and less scowly than usual.

"King Ludwig, Queen Kiku, and Jack Feliciano," Alfred recited. "And Diamonds is King Francis, Queen Lili, and Jack Vash. And Lili and Vash are brother and sister," he said. "Is that normal? I thought all the royals came from different families." When he stopped petting England, the cat wandered away, curling around Arthur for a moment before wandering off behind a tree.

"Not always," Arthur said. "Sometimes, if there's a marriage between royalty, then there might be children who would inherit both thrones. If Elizabeta and Roderich have more than one child, then they'd be expected to inherit both the Queen and Jack positions in Spades when it's time. If they didn't, they'd normally adopt and train up their heirs."

Alfred turned to look at Arthur. "Then why didn't your old king do that?" he asked.

Arthur stiffened. "He had children," Arthur said shortly. "Things just…didn't work out." He shook his head. "What are the duties of a each member of royalty?" he asked.

"The King is in charge of arbitrating which means judging when people need it. Also, the international politics, and he gets to make all the important decisions," Alfred recited. "Hey, when are you going to let me make important decisions, huh?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "When you'll start making good decisions – oh wait, that means never, doesn't it?" he said dryly. "Queen?"

Alfred had also found that Arthur, when he was in a good mood – difficult to tell apart from his bad moods – had a very dry and deprecating sense of humor. Alfred tended to be on the receiving end of Arthur's humor, though it was hard to tell if it was an Alfred-specific thing, or if Arthur did that to everyone because they seemed to be spending all of their time with each other.

"The Queen is the head of all armed forces," Alfred said. "And for us, that means you're head of our wimpy army cause you like being a pirate more."

"It's a navy, arsehole," Arthur said. "I've never been a pirate in my life. I'll have you know we have the strongest navy in all the seven seas. Even Hearts would think twice about sailing over," he said proudly.

"Cause you raid their ships and impress their sailors into working for you," Alfred said.

"It's a strategy of defense," Arthur said. "And how do you know that?"

"I actually _do_ listen when you and Yao discuss all those military strategy things and whatever," Alfred said. Despite all the training, Arthur still seemed to think Alfred was an idiot. "And you do that to other people's navies and then wonder why they hate you and want to declare war."

"I only do that because their navies are encroaching on our seas," Arthur said. "What does the Jack do?" he demanded.

Alfred rolled his eyes at the quick change of subject. "He's in charge of the internal workings of a country including finances, politics, economy, and so on," he recited.

"Which means?" Arthur prompted.

"The ones to watch out for most are the evil queens like in chess," Alfred said.

"We're not evil," Arthur said, glaring at him. "Well, _I'm_ not – I don't know about the other queens."

"The ones to get most information from are the jacks cause they know all about their country," Alfred continued, grinning at Arthur. "And kings are the ones you want to attack most because they give all the commands – except in our case because you and Yao don't trust me and you didn't have a king for so long that the two of you just give all the commands," he said.

"It's not that we don't trust you," Arthur said, sounding worried.

Alfred turned to him, a bit surprised.

Arthur looked flustered. "You're just…you're just new to everything, and we—"

"Don't trust me not to screw things up," Alfred said. "You know I'm not actually as dumb as you think. I wouldn't screw things up."

Arthur shot a look at him. "You wouldn't on _purpose_, but you know we can't risk you dying," he said. He seemed uncharacteristically concerned which Alfred wasn't sure was just an act or truth. Since he was forced to spend nearly all his time with Arthur, he felt more comfortable with him now, and he thought Arthur might feel similarly about Alfred.

Now that Alfred was finally beginning to catch on to things and even Yao had said that at the pace he was going, the wedding and coronation might not be a complete disaster, Arthur seemed to be getting nicer than before. Alfred found himself, if not completely enjoying Arthur's constant presence, at least he didn't mind Arthur quite so much anymore. Probably given the choice, Arthur wasn't the type of person Alfred was inclined to befriend in his normal life, but since he was stuck with Arthur all the time, Alfred was starting to find that he didn't entirely hate Arthur's company. Arthur was interesting when he wasn't being a pretentious douche, and now that Alfred knew just how much Arthur had to know and do just to run a country, he was beginning to have a lot more respect for him. Maybe if he didn't know Arthur's eventual plan for him, he might even get to eventually be friends with him.

At least at times like now when Arthur seemed softer and more relaxed, Alfred could almost forget that Arthur wanted to kill him and Arthur seemed a lot more like an older brother – well, no, not a brother – not a guardian or teacher… not even exactly a friend. But something more than just this unwilling relationship. And lately, Arthur had seemed more and more relaxed around Alfred though god knew they had more than enough to worry about at the moment.

Alfred was about to ask Arthur another question when he noticed Arthur had shut his eyes and leaned back against the tree. The sunlight that trickled through the green foliage of the tree dappled golden across Arthur, tinting his royal blue clothes and lighting his pale skin up rosy. The gentle breeze stirred Arthur's hair, and with a book in his lap, and just the hint of a smile on his relaxed face, for a moment, Arthur looked the picture of peaceful. If they were anywhere else in any other circumstance, Alfred would have enjoyed just a quiet moment like this, and as it was, Alfred found himself pausing anyway, unwilling to disturb him.

But all too soon, it was spoiled when a messenger came rushing through the garden gates.

"Your majesties, the King of Diamonds and your brothers are here," the messenger said.

Arthur's eyes snapped open to focus on the messenger. "What?"

"The—the King of Diamonds, Francis," the messenger said again. "And your older brothers, William, Rhys, and Conor—"

"You have brothers?" Alfred asked, surprised.

"I know who they are," Arthur said, ignoring Alfred's question as he got to his feet and brushed himself off. He shot an apologetic look at Alfred – strange because Arthur was never apologetic and this was a strange thing to be apologetic for. "I've got to go take care of this. Clean this up and have one of the servants help you dress. It's nearly dinner. You'll get a test run of your etiquette before the coronation, it seems," Arthur said.

Alfred made a face and to his surprise, Arthur ruffled his hair as he walked by.

"You'll do fine as long as you remember what I taught you and don't say anything," Arthur said as he headed off.

"Ha ha, very funny!" Alfred shouted as Arthur disappeared beyond the gates, bringing the messenger along with him.

Alfred sighed as he began stacking up the piles of books to take inside again. "Hey, America! England! Time to go inside," he called to the cats. He assumed he was supposed to bring them inside with him too though they seemed to have disappeared the way cats do. He sure as hell hoped the cats were still in the garden somewhere and hadn't gotten loose or who knew what Arthur would do if he found out his precious cats were gone.

"America, England, where'd you guys go?" Alfred called, feeling a bit stupid, but a moment later, he heard a quiet meow and found, of course, that both cats were up in the plum tree, curled together on a high branch.

Alfred exhaled as he peered up at them. "Great. Does this mean you're stuck? Aw crap, you're not stuck up there, are you?" he asked. They weren't very high up since it was a fairly short plum tree, but Alfred would still have to climb to reach them.

England gave Alfred a distinctively condescending look.

"Okay, does that mean you're _not_ stuck?" Alfred asked.

Both cats abruptly swiveled their heads around, as though in sync, to stare at some space on the other side of the tree. Curious, Alfred walked around, following the approximation of their gazes to hear familiar, childish laughter that echoed for just a moment before Peter Kirkland, the smaller Joker, materialized there in the garden and right in the middle of a flowerbed full of blue orchids.

Alfred barely kept from screaming when he saw the boy fade in.

"Whooo, are you scared?" Peter asked, wiggling his fingers at him.

Alfred slowly exhaled as he calmed down. "You're one of those Joker ghost things," he said. He congratulated himself on not freaking out because no matter what Peter and Gilbert called themselves, they sure looked and acted like ghosts.

"Yup," Peter said cheerfully. He couldn't seem to damage the flowers, but he made a show of trying to stomp on them anyway, pouting when nothing happened. "Stupid Arthur and his stupid flowers," he said.

"You know Arthur?" Alfred asked slowly as he relaxed.

"I'm his little brother," Peter said, nonchalant, as he gave up on the orchids and moved on to the rose bushes, though he had about as little success damaging those flowers as the others.

"What?" Alfred asked, even more confused. "I thought he had older brothers."

"Sort of," Peter said cheerfully.

Alfred frowned. "Just what exactly is a Joker anyway?"

Peter looked pleased that he knew something Alfred didn't. "You don't even know what a Joker is? Gilbert _said_ you were stupid—"

"That's enough of that, kid," Alfred said. "Where's Gilbert anyway?" He half-expected the other Joker to jump out at him since they both seemed to enjoy scaring him, but nothing happened.

"He went home," Peter said cheerfully.

"And where's that?" Alfred asked.

"I don't know where his home is. Mine is here," Peter said. "'cept I wish Arthur would stop planting all these girly flowers," he said.

Come to think of it, Arthur had never mentioned anything about the gardens here but besides Arthur's chambers, Alfred hadn't seen him so relaxed anywhere else. Alfred gulped as he looked around the garden. "Is this… is this a _grave_?" he asked.

Peter took one look at Alfred's face and burst out laughing so hard he fell onto his back, passing right through a cluster of rose bushes – and started rolling around on the ground. "No, Arthur just banned me from going inside the castle except my room cause he says I get in the way and bother people," he said.

"Just what _are_ you?" Alfred asked again. "Magic?"

Peter frowned, looking thoughtful. "Sorta, I guess," he said. "I don't really remember that much when it happened. Just sometimes 'in the right circumstances' Arthur says," Peter made a face, "some people can get to be Jokers instead of dying or something."

"So you _are_ a ghost?" Alfred asked, eyes wide.

"No, I didn't die," Peter said. "At least I don't think so," he added. "And Gilbert says he didn't die either. 's like instead of dying, you get to be a Joker if you do all the right magic and stuff," he said. "But we're sorta like ghosts cause I can pass through things," he said cheerfully. "But I can't fly. Ghosts can fly, right?"

Alfred blinked. "Uh… I guess," he said.

"Yeah, so I'm not a ghost," Peter said.

Alfred decided to try making sense of a different subject as he watched Peter stand up and move to another tree that had a small wooden swing set up on one of its lower branches. He sat down on the swing and seemed to have no trouble going through that, though he couldn't seem to make the swing move no matter how hard he rocked his hands and feet.

"Push?" Peter requested.

Alfred rolled his shoulders and went over to the swing, grabbing it by the ropes and with one small shove, sent it swinging in the air. He couldn't feel any weight or resistance on the swing though he could very visibly see Peter sitting there and laughing.

"How are you related to Arthur? Does he know you're here?" Alfred asked as he watched Peter swing.

"I told you, I'm his brother," Peter said. "He's really busy normally but sometimes he remembers and comes to see me." He made a face. "Then he makes me study."

Alfred laughed. "I know how that feels," he said.

Peter grinned at him. "Yeah! But it's not like I can be Queen anymore anyway, and I don't need to eat or sleep or anything, so I sneak out sometimes. That's how I met Gilbert," he said cheerfully.

"Wait, you were supposed to be Queen? Like Queen of Spades?" Alfred asked.

Peter nodded. "Push," he demanded when the swing slowed down and waited until Alfred had pushed the swing again before he'd start talking. "Yup, I was going to be Queen and Arthur was going to be King, but then I got sick and had to be a Joker, and our other brothers didn't want Arthur to be King cause they said it wasn't fair so he ended up being Queen instead," Peter said.

That was a lot of information to take in at once especially because Peter also spoke like Alfred ought to already understand everything he was saying the way Arthur assumed as well. Especially that bit about Arthur being meant to be King of Spades. Suddenly a lot more of Arthur's animosity made sense if Alfred had accidentally taken a position that was meant for Arthur.

Alfred frowned as he gave Peter's swing another push. "The last time I saw you guys, what did you want to warn me about?" he asked.

"It's going to get dangerous for you," Peter said. "You have to get out of Spades."

"But what is it?" Alfred asked. "Why are you helping me?"

Peter smiled as he hopped off the swing. "I don't know," he said. "Cause it's fun, maybe?" he asked and then winked out as quickly as he'd appeared.

"Peter? That's a ridiculous reason!" Alfred called. "Peter!"

But the little Joker didn't reappear again and a few moments later, Alfred coaxed the cats down and brought them and the books inside, still frowning as he thought about this new bit of information.

* * *

><p>When Alfred made it into the throne room some time later, Arthur was already holding audience with Francis and several others dressed in the same yellow and gold outfits of the first Diamonds entourage that Alfred had seen, though there were noticeably fewer of them this time. Their outfits were also somewhat less gaudy – or maybe that was simply because there weren't any women in their party at all this time. The only people who stood out in the throne room were Arthur, and three other men who were all dressed in the royal blue of Spades.<p>

Arthur was deep in an argument with Francis, another man from Diamonds, and the three men from Spades when Alfred walked in.

"What makes you think I'm just going to agree to let some of your party –_ uninvited_, may I add – stay in my castle? You know I'm not looking for a war with Hearts," Arthur was shouting.

"So say it's because of the wedding," one of the Spades men said.

Arthur turned his glare on him. "Shut the fuck up, William," he snapped. "You have no say in this decision."

The man narrowed his eyes at Arthur. "You bastard," he said. "If you hadn't been born—"

"Well, I _have_ been and I'm a better queen than any of you would have ever been," Arthur said, turning a blotchy red as he tried to straighten up even more. And even though Arthur seemed to be holding his own fairly well, maybe it was because he was shorter than his brothers who Alfred figured those three in blue had to be, and maybe because it was three-against-one because the other brothers all seemed to agree too – but Alfred didn't like the look of these three and Francis and the other man from Diamonds all converging on Arthur.

"As your royal consorts—" another brother began.

"You are no such thing!" Arthur said.

"Antonio would be coming with me to your wedding anyway," Francis said and patted the other man from Diamonds on the back. "It is only a few weeks earlier."

Antonio – who Alfred decided had to be the other man from Diamonds – nodded along though he didn't exactly look friendly towards Arthur either.

"I won't have spies in my kingdom," Arthur said.

"Oh give it a rest, Arthur. You know Antonio isn't a spy," another one of the brothers said. "We're all going to be allies."

"I'll be fucked before I ally with Diamonds," Arthur said, shooting a distasteful glance at both Francis and Antonio. "I'll be fucked before I listen to any of you—"

He was interrupted with a sudden gurgle because the brother named William suddenly shot forward and grabbed Arthur by the neck, forcing his face up even as Arthur fought and kicked – only to have his arms restrained by his other two brothers until all he could do was kick futilely. "Listen up and listen close, little brother. You are not and never _were_ in charge here in Spades," William said. "It was only due to our mother's infidelity you took the throne by chance, and if you go against us…" he paused and smirked in a way that was nearly identical to Arthur's own. "…you'll see that your blood is only a little different from ours, and as soon as you're gone, we'll be free to take the thrones back."

That was enough for Alfred who strode forward, and shoved Francis and Antonio to the side before grabbing William by the shoulder. "Hey man, let go of him."

William shot a dismissive glare at Alfred. "Nice job of training your people here you've done," William said to Arthur.

Alfred narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip until he felt something give way. "I said, let him go," he said.

William had turned to Alfred now, his green eyes – a shade paler than Arthur's – narrowed at Alfred though his grip had already loosened. He yanked his arm away from Alfred, letting go of Arthur as he spoke. "Who the fuck are you?" he asked, giving Alfred a once-over quite similar to the way Arthur had also looked at Alfred when they'd first met.

"I'm the King of Spades," Alfred said and turned to the other two brothers. "And I'd appreciate it if you let go of my queen," he said.

The other two brothers let go of Arthur slower than Alfred would have liked, but this was a show of strength now – they weren't going to look like Alfred had intimidated them into anything. The same way that Arthur – who had shot just one wide-eyed glance Alfred's way – had begun brushing himself off despite the bruises forming on his throat already.

"So you found yourself a king, eh?" one of the other brothers said.

"Yes he did," Alfred said before Arthur could.

"I'd think twice about taking the throne if I were you," William said, glaring at Alfred. "A kid like you wouldn't last a day. And you," he said to Arthur. "You are going to help Francis."

"Fuck you," Arthur said though it came out more as a croak thanks to William's previous hold on his throat.

The sound of Arthur's broken voice made Alfred even angrier than before because while he didn't like Arthur much, five against one was just too much for him, so it was probably a good thing that before he could do any permanent damage to Arthur's brothers, Hong abruptly walked in and announced that dinner was shortly to be served. Francis, Antonio, and Arthur's brothers all walked out of the room along with the other people.

Even as was, Alfred was still ready to beat Arthur's brothers into a pulp – beginning to understand why Arthur hated Francis and his brothers so much – only to be stopped by a hand on his own.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked, looking over at Arthur who was looking at anywhere but Alfred.

"Thanks," Arthur said after a moment. "I mean, not that I needed it or anything. I've gotten rid of those five more times than I can count by myself, but… thanks," he said again and began to turn faintly pink as he looked down at his shoes.

Alfred frowned, not quite sure what to make of this except that apparently, by that one gesture out of the pure unfairness of the whole situation, he had managed to get on Arthur's good side. "Just what is up with you and your brothers?" he asked.

"I'll explain later. We've got to get to dinner," Arthur said and, for the first time since Alfred had met him, smiled. It was barely there – just the small up tilt of his mouth, but somehow, it managed to brighten his whole face. Alfred abruptly found himself thinking that Arthur could actually be quite attractive if you could look past his awful personality which obviously wasn't actually humanly possible of course.

And then the smile was gone and Arthur was hurrying out of the throne room as well.

* * *

><p>Dinner was safely what Alfred could call the worst dinner he had ever had to go to including those awkward family dinners right after his parents had divorced back when he was still just ten in which every get-together resulted in a fight – sometimes between his mom and dad even after the divorce, but mostly between Alfred and his parents. He didn't care about their reasons – they didn't love each other anymore – yeah, well, they should have tried harder then – it was for the good of everyone – like who? Oh, right, the people that his parents had been surreptitiously having affairs with all this time and they wondered why they'd fallen out of love with each other.<p>

But even those awful family dinners that had erupted into shouting and cursing and crying until his parents gave up on them – even those couldn't compare to the awfulness of a court dinner. As king and queen, Alfred and Arthur sat together at one end of the table – which Arthur had explained was also partially for the protection of the king since the queen, in charge of all the armed forces was traditionally a very good fighter as well, and could protect the king should anything happen. Yao, as the Jack, sat directly across the long table from Alfred which was so far away that Alfred could barely see his face above the platters of food, and he couldn't hear anything Yao was saying to another man from Diamonds who was wearing a grumpy expression and had a runaway curl on his auburn hair.

Alfred's side of the table was considerably more crowded with Arthur sitting to his right, but Francis sitting on his left along with Antonio right after that. And on Arthur's other side were his three brothers who Arthur had introduced respectively as William, Rhys, and Conor.

All four brothers had started out civil but things had very rapidly devolved into a contest about who could accidentally shove potatoes into Arthur's hair the most or accidentally squirt him with wine. Francis, who was sitting right across the table from Arthur, was having the most fun out of everyone, but Arthur seemed to enjoy flicking every single one of his mushy peas at Francis as he could. Even Antonio was dragged into the mini-food fight and only Alfred seemed to escape unscathed purely because no one seemed to think he was important.

"This is disgusting, rosbif," Francis said as he flicked bits of roast beef at Arthur.

"You just can't appreciate good food. Let me help you," Arthur said, right before he leaned across the table and mashed an entire handful of potatoes down Francis's collar.

If this was how royalty _really_ acted at the dinner table, Alfred wondered why Arthur even bothered to teach him etiquette. They didn't stop until Arthur – who was ganged up on by all the five finally had so much food on him, he had to excuse himself to get washed up though he did shoot Alfred a look that said to be careful.

"So you will let Antonio and a few of my entourage stay," Francis said to Alfred once Arthur was gone. Everyone seemed to settle down as soon as he had left, though from the way they had acted, Alfred was pretty sure that it wasn't an entirely out of the norm experience.

"Why?" Alfred asked, still not entirely sure what they'd all been arguing about when he'd arrived. He did have serious doubts as to all the emphasis Arthur put on etiquette and manners though because it didn't look like anyone here actually cared.

"Negotiations, of course," Francis said. "This is my captain-of-the-guard, Antonio – second in command only to my lovely little queen," he said, gesturing to the dark-haired man sitting next to him who had been just as enthusiastically throwing little cherry tomatoes at Arthur earlier. "He'll be dealing with it for me."

Antonio smiled and waved at Alfred. He looked like an easy-going sort of guy though at the moment, Alfred didn't approve of either him or Francis because five-against-one was just unfair.

"Shouldn't that be done with you or your queen or jack?" Alfred asked. At least that should be what he'd expected from what he'd learned with Arthur. Or at least, they should have a proper ambassador or something.

"We are at war. I cannot spare my queen or jack, and I will have to return as soon as possible myself," Francis said.

"But you can spare your captain-of-the-guard?" Alfred asked.

Francis shrugged. "My queen and jack do a well enough job of their own," he said. "And you will need Antonio if you are to start planning for battle," he said. "He is just as good with the seas as Arthur is – better, even."

"That's a lie and you know it." Alfred turned in time to see Arthur come back in – dressed in a new outfit again. He sat down next to Alfred again.

"You are being delusional again, Arthur," Francis said.

Arthur rolled his eyes and held up his hand in the British version of the finger.

"I'm rethinking helping you at all thanks to you dragging my brothers into this," Arthur said coolly.

"We've been in it from the beginning," Conor said. "You know as well as I do, war is inevitable."

"I also know you three are just hoping I'll die and you can take the throne. Too bad, I've got Alfred now and even if you do manage to off me, you aren't going to get rid of my king and jack so easily," Arthur said.

"You should have stayed asleep," William said, shooting a dark look at Arthur.

"I wish I had too," Arthur snapped and then shot another look at Antonio. "Fine. Your people can stay," he said to Francis. "But try anything, and I will ally with Hearts and destroy you."

It was an empty threat and everyone knew it – there was no way Arthur could risk allying with Hearts when their intentions seemed simply to take over as much of this world as possible.

Francis nodded. "Deal. Then Antonio, you and the others will stay. Discuss strategies with Arthur, and when we return for the wedding, we'll cement the alliance," he said. "I will leave tomorrow morning."

Arthur gave a short nod. "And so will you all," he said to his three brothers.

"As though we'd stay any longer than necessary," William said and Rhys took the opportunity to toss a blueberry at Arthur.

After the apparent business had been concluded, conversation turned to news and bits of how the other kingdoms were doing. There was a bit concerning the other royalty, which Alfred could understand a little better now that he knew who the main players were.

"Lili and Vash are holding fort just barely right now," Francis said. "I haven't heard anything from Clubs though."

"You have invited them to your little wedding, haven't you?" Rhys asked.

"The invitations are going to be sent tomorrow. You'd have to ask Yao," Arthur said. "But no, none of them have come around here pestering us for help."

"What about your spies? I know you have them," Antonio said. He had a distinctly Latino accent and a tendency to lisp which might have come from the accent too.

"So do you," Arthur answered. "But I haven't heard back from anyone I've sent in. They seem to be on some sort of emergency lock-down."

"Strange, Elizabeta has always been one of the best," Conor commented.

From casual news – no actual politics were discussed – it turned into a discussion of how everyone was doing. It seemed that Francis and William were actually on very good terms which Alfred thought probably explained why the three brothers had showed up to help bully Arthur into helping Diamonds. If this was what it had been like for Arthur growing up, Alfred was beginning to see how Arthur had turned into the bossy, ill-mannered tyrant he was now.

No one cared in the least which forks and knives Alfred was using and most of them completely ignored him except Francis who kept asking Alfred questions about how he was adjusting to life here though Arthur was quick enough to kick Francis under the table every time and distract him from asking any questions that might reveal just who Alfred was. It was alternately annoying and a little relieving because Alfred thought he could probably field the questions pretty well by now, so it was unnecessary for Arthur to interfere like that.

It was late at night by the time everyone retired, and the rooms in the royal suite were noisier than usual because Arthur's brothers were all staying in the rooms meant for Arthur's family. When Alfred walked past them to get to his own chambers, he wondered where exactly Peter stayed.

Alfred fell asleep nearly immediately like he had all the other days of the week.

* * *

><p>The next day, Francis and most of his entourage as well as Arthur's older brothers all left right after breakfast. They'd left behind Antonio and the grumpy guy who had been sitting next to Yao who was named Lovino, and two others who seemed to be there mostly to escort them.<p>

Arthur left the small Diamonds entourage to Yao and seemed to more or less ignore them even though he shot glares at Antonio every time he saw him. Apparently, Antonio was also one of Arthur's former tormenters as well.

On the other hand, one marked difference happened with Arthur. Although they continued on their usual studies, Arthur was strangely softer and pleasanter after that day, and where Arthur had already been spending most of the day with Alfred before, he seemed to spend all his time with Alfred now. During his training time with Tim, Arthur started coming along and taking over Alfred's combat training as well. Alfred didn't mind as Arthur was one of the best fighters in Spades, even though Alfred would have preferred to work with Tim. Arthur emphasized strategy whereas Alfred worked better with plain strength, and Tim was good at both and didn't nag at Alfred about strategy as much as Arthur did.

They also went out to study in the quiet gardens more often, and Arthur didn't yell at Alfred nearly as much for making mistakes in his studying even though he was just as strict. Occasionally, Alfred would catch Arthur looking at him with the small smile on his face though every time Alfred caught him doing it, Arthur would turn red and immediately start stuttering out some change of subject. It was altogether bizarre, but it also seemed to mean that Arthur was a lot more open to Alfred's questions.

"Just what is up with you and your brothers?" Alfred asked the next day as they sat leaning against opposite sides of a tree that looked like a cross between a weeping willow and a maple tree though all the leaves were a pale blue.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked.

"You don't get along with them. How are you guys even related?" Alfred asked.

He heard Arthur heave a sigh from the other side of the tree, and when he turned his head, he could see the back of Arthur's head leaned against the tree and his fingers absently picking at the grass they were sitting on. "We're half-brothers," he said. "I haven't told you about my parents yet."

"No," Alfred said.

"My mother was the former Queen of Spades," Arthur said. "And my father was the former King."

"Wait," Alfred said. "So your mom and your dad were the King and Queen of Spades?" he asked. "I thought you said you inherit the positions. Why aren't you king then?" Peter had mentioned a little about it, but Alfred hadn't expected this. "How are you even half brothers with your uh… brothers?" he asked.

Arthur sighed, quieter this time. "I'm illegitimate," he said. "The Queen of Spades – my mother – was already married and a Kirkland. She had my three older brothers with her husband," he said and let out a bitter chuckle. "It was just irony that she fell in love with the King of Spades after she took the throne. They had two children – Peter and I," Arthur said. "And the King of Spades never married after that."

"So you and Peter are actually completely royal blood," Alfred said.

"Yes," Arthur said. "If everything had worked out, my father had intended to name me as king, and my mother would name Peter as queen. The people were mixed about it – they liked having completely royal blood for both positions, of course – but we were also bastard children. My older brothers never forgave our mother or me for it."

"It wasn't your fault," Alfred said.

"They don't care," Arthur said. "Anyway, they couldn't do anything about it except that Peter got ill when he was very young," Arthur said. "In the end, we had to make him a Joker and he couldn't take any throne at all. My father also died around that time, and there were rumors that my older brothers had plotted against him and Peter so they could inherit the thrones."

"Did they?" Alfred asked.

"No one knows, but you've met them," Arthur said. "It's just as likely they did as they didn't. My mother named me to be the queen simply to prevent any of them from taking her position, and they've been bitter about it ever since," he said.

"I'm sorry," Alfred said after a moment.

He heard Arthur laugh from the other side of the tree. "What for? It has nothing to do with you."

Alfred shrugged even though Arthur couldn't see it. "You had a hard time," he said. Even though Arthur planned to kill him, Alfred couldn't help feeling bad when he heard what Arthur had lived through up until now. That was why he was so ruthless – he must have had a job of staying on top of the kingdom when his family hated him, both his parents were gone, and all his people knew he was an illegitimate child despite having royal blood. A bastard kid and in such a high position couldn't be easy.

He felt something touch his hand and when he looked down, he saw that Arthur had shifted over to sit adjacent to him and had put his hand over Alfred's. Even though Arthur's hands were smaller and his fingers were slimmer than Alfred's, his hands were also rougher and more callused.

Alfred sat still and let Arthur slip his hand into Alfred's own in a loose grip.

* * *

><p>After that, things seemed to be changing even more both with Alfred's studies and with Arthur. By now, Alfred had more or less gone over the basics that Arthur and Yao thought he should know, so his studying involved getting into more details of what was happening. His training progressed as usual, though now that Alfred was more comfortable with and better at controlling his strength, he could join in practice with the knights and soldiers more often now. Alfred was also more familiar with the people in the castle now. He didn't know everyone by name, and he hadn't even met everyone yet, but he was getting to know the regular soldiers and knights quite well when he was training, and there was Hong in the kitchens, and a few of the maids and menservants who were always around that Alfred knew now.<p>

Arthur smiled more often at Alfred, and when they weren't continuously studying and practicing, it was even fun sometimes. Occasionally they'd move into Arthur's chambers to study and Arthur would try to serve Alfred his awful cooking which Alfred dutifully ate, and he was beginning to find that Arthur wasn't such an awful guy even if Alfred wasn't entirely sure of his intentions. Sometimes, when they were sparring, Arthur would look at Alfred, all joyful and yet dangerous. And other times, when they were together in the king's study, Alfred would be asking Arthur a question about a region on the globe, and when he turned, he'd find Arthur standing just a little too close to him, leaning towards Alfred with a small smile on his face as he explained things. At times like that, Alfred thought Arthur must like him at least somewhat, but any time he saw Arthur and Yao together, Alfred couldn't help remembering the conversation he'd overheard.

Life at the castle began to get more and more comfortable as Alfred learned more. He could effortlessly eat dinner in the right ways. And about two weeks after he arrived, he knew all the steps of every dance Arthur insisted on teaching him, even if he still tended to step on Arthur's toes more often than not.

"When we are wed, we'll be expected to take the first dance together," Arthur said, putting Alfred's hand on his waist. They were practicing in the throne room today which would be where the entire ceremony would be taking place. There was no one there at all except the two of them and their footsteps echoed off the stone floors and walls. It made Alfred inexplicably nervous about dancing in such a large room.

"What? You mean everyone is going to be just watching us?" Alfred asked, taking Arthur's hand in his own. The steps were more or less rehearsed now, but Alfred had never been the best dancer and at home when he went to parties or dances, he tended to stand there and bob from one foot to the other while his date did most of the dancing. Even now that he'd learned the variety of dances he was expected to know, it still made him nervous if he thought he was going to be watched by so many people.

"We are the royal couple," Arthur said and smiled. "We've still got a few weeks until then. It won't be so difficult as long as you practice. Now, 1 2 3, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3, 1 2 3 4…" he counted off the steps, and although Alfred was supposed to be leading, Arthur nudged him, squeezing the hand he'd placed on Alfred's shoulder and Alfred took s deep breath and began moving.

The traditional dance of Spades seemed to be something like a cross between a waltz and a minuet, and, strangely enough, could be modified into an entire variety of group dances where partners were switched and everyone lined up in formations. Just as easily though, it could be done as a purely couple dance, and Alfred had never been an expert on period dancing, but it was much more complicated than he'd ever expected especially as Arthur insisted he had to learn all the variations because he would be expected to dance with as many of the other royals as possible.

Alfred generally spent the majority of the dances staring at his feet.

He was still doing so when he felt Arthur press closer to him, and abruptly there was the fresh scent of lavender and the smell of the air after rain which he had never thought a person could actually smell like. Arthur moved slowly, shuffling closer until his hair brushed Alfred's face, and they were pressed front-to-front. Alfred could feel Arthur let out a shaky exhale as they danced across the empty floor to a rhythm only they knew and the beat of their shoes on the floor.

Alfred wasn't stupid. He could tell that Arthur definitely like him though how deep that went, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that Arthur didn't act like this with anyone else, but he also didn't know Arthur's intentions. For all that he knew, this was just another strange game they were playing and another scheme that Alfred was supposed to watch out for. He had no idea what he was supposed to think when Arthur acted unsure and so happy at times that he was either the best damn actor Alfred had ever seen, or else this was genuine. Alfred could deal with it if it was all an act, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do if this was genuine.

"Alfred…" Arthur said quietly when they'd somehow migrated to the left side of the throne room and were slowly dancing in place.

"What?" Alfred asked.

Arthur sighed and his head lowered slowly, tentatively to Alfred's shoulder, his face turned in against Alfred's neck where he could feel Arthur's shaky breath against his skin. "I…I'm glad you're my king," he said.

Alfred stiffened for a moment and just as he was relaxing again, trying to think of how he should respond – what was the _right_ answer to that – the throne room burst open and Antonio and Lovino came walking in.

Alfred and Arthur jumped away from each other though they had been doing nothing wrong, and Alfred found his face heating up.

"Yao said to meet him in your library study," Antonio said. "We've just had new news from Clubs," he said.

"What news?" Arthur asked.

"Their king has gone missing," Antonio said as they all hurried toward the library. "Francis sent notice from Diamonds – one of our intelligence made it over to Clubs, but it seems like the entire kingdom is in chaos. No one has seen the jack or queen either for weeks."

Yao was already waiting for them when they got into the library in front of a long spread out map of the four kingdoms. Various tacks and figures had been placed on the map which were meant to represent different battalions and armies camped out in different places. There were tiny little ship models set in the seas which represented the naval forces that each kingdom had. And of course every one of the little models was color-coded to represent each kingdom.

Unfortunately, the red of Hearts had spread halfway into Diamonds by now, and they were interspersed throughout Clubs too, though Alfred knew it was anyone's guess just how far the invasion had spread to in Clubs so far.

"We've received the RSVP from Clubs now," Yao said as soon as they walked in. "But no contact outside of that."

"It means the royalty there have to be fine then, right?" Arthur said as everyone stood around the table. Some of the other Spades captains and officials were also there like Tim and a few others that Alfred didn't recognize. More and more of them had been coming to the capital as the days passed and the castle was getting more crowded with the nobility and knights and soldiers pouring in from Spades. It was all under the guise of arriving for the wedding and coronation, but secretly it was to discuss these things. Alfred hadn't had the time – being tied up with Arthur – to actually speak much with many of the newer arrivals, though now that he was getting more familiar with everything, he thought it would be a good idea to establish himself more as the king with other people as well.

"Supposedly," Yao said and Arthur turned suddenly to Lovino.

"Just who are you to Diamonds? Why are you in here?" he asked.

Lovino, who had been quiet up to now turned red and glared at Arthur. "I'll have you fucking know, I am the goddamned—"

"Lovi is my most trusted knight," Antonio said and beamed at Lovino which was enough to make him erupt in a series of curses.

Arthur frowned. "Have I met you before? You look familiar," he said.

"You've been to Diamonds before," Yao said.

"Yeah, you better fucking remember my fucking face," Lovino said, punching Antonio in the arm when Antonio tried to hug him.

Alfred was impressed. Lovino cursed even more than Arthur did, though everyone seemed to take it all in a stride.

"Whatever. If you're sure he's not a traitor," Arthur said.

"My Lovi would never betray me, right?" Antonio said and smiled, clinging more to Lovino. Alfred was beginning to suspect that Lovino wasn't just a mere knight to Antonio – but someone much more important.

"If he does, it's on your head, Antonio," Arthur said.

"Back to business," Yao interrupted. "All you children calm down. Antonio and I have worked out how many forces we have between us right now," he said, gesturing to the map. "Most of the Diamonds forces are now along the border – they've got a navy but it isn't much use right now when Hearts is attacking entirely by land, but if they get through Diamonds and make it to our seas, our combined naval forces will be important."

"Hearts doesn't have a navy," Arthur said. "They're landlocked."

"They'll find some way if they do get here," Yao answered. "I've sent word to Clubs again, but we don't know what the situation is like there. The guess is that Hearts should be at least past the border now, probably advancing on the capital, but it's more likely that their main forces are concentrating on Diamonds."

"These are the figures we have for our resource and mobile armed forces right now," Yao said, gesturing to a chart with a bunch of numbers and letters written on them which Alfred didn't understand and no one bothered explaining to him. "We'll have a good chance of winning at the moment, if we join while Diamonds can still fight. But right now, we need to discuss when we declare war. The Hearts haven't provoked Spades at all yet, and it will still be a risk if we do declare war."

From there, the discussion turned to strategy with Arthur and Antonio discussing tactics and the various abilities of their various regiments, and Yao and the other Spades officials trying to discuss when the best time to declare war would be.

At the end of the meeting, all that had been concluded was that they wouldn't be declaring war until after the wedding and coronation. But one good thing came out of the meeting.

As the other officials and generals all trickled from the room, Arthur caught Alfred's arm. "There's still a bit of time until dinner. Our time's running short and as since you're, well, you're finally starting to catch up with the etiquette and manners, we should skip the rest of the history and move on to our current resources and demographics," Arthur said. He wasn't exactly smiling, but he looked happy and a little nervous. "We'll be at war soon and this'll be important for you to know—"

"Arthur," Yao said from across the table. He was looking straight at them, and specifically where Arthur's hand was still on Alfred's arm. "I need to talk to you."

Arthur frowned and Alfred felt his hand tighten. "I'm going to train Alfred," he said.

"Tonight then. When you are done," Yao said.

Something about the way Yao had said it, and then how Arthur's grip tightened on Alfred's arm and all but dragged him outside told Alfred – tonight they were going to be discussing him and their planned murder. It was all Alfred could do not to throw Arthur's arm off of himself and run for the open doors, but somehow, he managed to keep cool. He grinned at Arthur when they got out of the room.

"You don't want to meet with Yao or something?" Alfred asked casually as they headed up towards the king's study.

Arthur went red. "No, no, it's not that," he said. "We just don't have any time left, and soon we'll have to rehearse for the wedding and coronation, you understand," he said.

"Yeah, okay," Alfred said, watching as Arthur walked ahead of him.

That night, after Arthur had dismissed Alfred early to go do some endurance training on the field, Alfred went out to the courtyard, but as soon as he was sure Arthur was gone, he abandoned practice and snuck back inside. At this time of night, most of the castle was going to sleep now – since there was no electricity, it was tedious to do anything in the flickering light of a lamp though it was possible, and most of the castle preferred to sleep as early as they could manage.

Since the entire castle was busy with preparations lately though, Alfred still had to duck into random rooms twice when he saw servants pass by. No one stopped Alfred though, and Alfred made it without incident to the library where light was indeed leaking through the closed door. Alfred cursed his luck, but it turned out that Arthur and Yao were standing close enough by the entrance of the library that Alfred could hear their voices anyway.

"You've been spending too much time with him lately," Yao was saying as Alfred crouched by the door to listen.

"It's my job," Arthur said. "You're the one who put me in charge of training him."

"I'm asking you if you can still do the job," Yao said. "I've been putting research into it and I'm nearly positive this can work. We'll put as many layers of protection spells on you, although I'm not sure that would do anything for you if you're in his non-magic world—"

"Do you really think this is the right thing to do?" Arthur asked suddenly.

Alfred shifted, trying to hear better.

"That is, Alfred's really getting better," Arthur said. "I think we underestimated him. He's learned just about everything I've been teaching him, and I'm sure by the time it's the coronation, he'll know it all perfectly. And he has that monster strength of his – it could be a huge advantage for us, right?"

"You're saying you don't want to kill him?" Yao asked.

"I—I'm just saying, it might not be the best idea," Arthur said. "Our kingdom is already at a disadvantage without a king, and Alfred—"

"Is not suited for it," Yao said. "We've already agreed on this. Even with that strength of his, he is only one man, and one man isn't going to make a difference."

"It's happened before in history," Arthur said. "What about the Aces? They've always—"

"Aces are a rarity. How may have ever appeared?" Yao said.

"That's not—"

"How many?" Yao interrupted.

"Three in over four thousand years," Arthur said.

"And only one of those came from Spades at all," Yao said. "Even if an Ace did show up, chances are, he wouldn't be in Spades, and even if he was, chances are, it isn't Alfred."

"But there's still a chance. How do you know Alfred isn't one of those?" Arthur insisted.

"For one, he's a foreigner. He's not even from this world and he has no magic," Yao said.

"The other records of the Aces have never talked about their histories either," Arthur said.

"Because it didn't matter. An Ace showing up would be just as terrible for us, you know. Don't you remember what happened all the other times an Ace showed up?" Yao asked.

There was a long silence on the other side of the door.

Alfred shifted positions as he listened hard for their next words. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved that Arthur, at least, didn't seem entirely eager to kill him now, but he was also curious about what this Ace was. He'd never heard Yao or Arthur bring it up when he was studying before.

"What if Alfred is the king we've been waiting for?" Arthur asked after a moment.

Yao let out a sigh. "Do you want to risk your life on it?" he said. "You know that if he dies, you die, and with both of you gone, this kingdom isn't going to survive. And right now, the chances of Alfred dying are much higher than they are of his surviving."

"I know, but… but I—"

"You have feelings for him, don't you?" Yao said shortly.

Alfred found himself leaning forward to hear Arthur's answer. And in the short silence that followed was when Alfred became aware of a second sound. There were footsteps advancing down the hallway. They were quiet, but Alfred could hear the quiet tap of shoes against the stone floor and he straightened up, as he looked for a place to hide because if he was caught eavesdropping, there was no way he'd survive this.

The problem was that the library was fairly isolated in a long hallway, and the nearest corridor was several yards away in either direction. The footsteps were coming faster now, so Alfred had no choice but to walk as quickly in the opposite direction as he could and simply hope that whoever it happened to be wouldn't recognize him in the dark.

But as Alfred's footsteps picked up, so did the other person's. Alfred couldn't break into a run – not without arousing suspicion because this person was clearly following him. So there was only one other thing he could do – bluff.

Halfway down the corridor, Alfred turned and faced his pursuer. At first, in the dark hallway, all he could see were the shadows cast by the sparse lamps along the corridor. And then he heard the footsteps slow down, now that his pursuer realized Alfred wasn't running away, and Arthur saw a figure step out from the shadows.

His pursuer was dressed entirely in form-fitting black clothes and it was also very clearly a woman.

"Are you the King of Spades?" she asked quietly. She had long pale hair that streamed behind her, and a very beautiful face like one that might belong to a model.

"Yes," Alfred said.

The girl narrowed her eyes at him and brought her hands out in front of herself. She was holding a twin pair of knives – she was not a servant come to rat him out – she was an assassin.

Then the girl launched herself at him. Alfred had already been training with Tim and Arthur, but even the sparring didn't quite prepare him for real battle – especially when this was an assassin after his life. Worse, Alfred didn't have any weapons with him. He only used practice swords down in the courtyard or sometimes in the fields when he was training. He never brought any weapons with him although he was pretty sure Arthur always had some sort of a blade with him at all times, as did a lot of the other royals and officers.

The girl also didn't fight like Arthur or Tim or any of the other knights. She was fast and agile, and although Alfred managed to dodge her first thrust, the only thing he could do without a weapon was to basically run, except that the girl was faster than he was. When he tried to back up down the corridor, she immediately pushed forward, and one of her knives nicked Alfred on the shoulder when he didn't dodge fast enough. Worse, she also fought with two knives which Alfred had never practiced for, so when he managed to dodge one knife, he'd nearly get cut by the other. Twice, one of her knives hit stone wall and would have been driven right through Alfred's skull if he didn't move his head fast enough.

And the girl was also too smart to move their fight too close to any of the lanterns so Alfred couldn't even find a makeshift weapon in this fighting space. The only thing Alfred had going for him was strength, but he'd been raised never to hit a girl, and even if this particular girl was trying to kill him, Alfred still didn't want to hit her unless he absolutely had to.

Alfred wondered if shouting for Arthur or Yao to come would be a good idea – on one hand, she probably wouldn't try to fight them all, but on the other, he couldn't show any sign of weakness to Yao and Arthur, or they'd decide Alfred was disposable.

It didn't matter in the end, because when the girl's knife bounced off the wall a third time, the noise brought the library door open anyway.

"Alfred!" Arthur shouted and it distracted Alfred just enough so he didn't catch the girl's leg when she kneed him square in the gut.

Alfred doubled over, gasping for breath.

This was it, Alfred thought vaguely as he watched the girl's knives descend. He was going to die, and Arthur was going to die—

_CLANG!_

Alfred hit the floor, coughing and trying to reorient himself. Above him, Arthur had jumped into his place, but unlike Alfred, Arthur had a sword, and he was successfully forcing the girl back. Between catching his breath, and the pain, and simply being disoriented with the lamps flickering in the dark corridor, and the flash of swords, Alfred couldn't keep up with the fight. One moment, Arthur seemed to be bursting with strength and going even faster than the girl was, pushing her against a wall, and the next moment, their positions had changed and Arthur was forced back when he had to duck the low sweep of her foot.

"Intruder!" Alfred registered Yao was shouting in the background. "Intruder in the castle!"

And then the bells were sounded. Alfred hadn't been to the bell towers before, though every hour, the bells would be sounded. Now though, they blared loud, and no one would be able to stay asleep during this alarm.

The girl paused when the shouts began down in the courtyard, and Arthur also paused when she did. "Whoever you are, you're going to pay," Arthur said as Alfred unsteadily got to his feet.

The girl glared at Arthur and stabbed at him with one arm. Arthur blocked it, but his guard must have been down now that he seemed in imminent victory, because he didn't see it when her other arm came up, holding the other knife.

"Arthur!" Alfred shouted, reaching for him as the knife flashed.

He caught a glimpse of Arthur's startled eyes as Alfred shoved him out of range of the girl's knife, and then there was a stabbing pain in his right shoulder blade.

Alfred turned to see the girl wrenching the knife out of the back of his shoulder, glistening with his own blood. Her blades flashed again and Alfred knew he couldn't afford to draw the fight out any longer. If he didn't do something, either he would get killed, or Arthur would kill this girl, and even if she was an assassin, Alfred didn't feel right about having a complete stranger die because of him.

So he punched her.

Even though Alfred tried to control his strength, he was tired and injured, and he must not have gauged it very well, because that one punch sent the girl flying down the corridor. She hit the wall at the opposite end of the hallway and crumpled like a doll, her knives clattering to the ground as the first of the guards came running up the stairs.

Alfred turned, still out of breath, as he looked at Arthur. "Are you… are you okay?" he asked.

He had just won his first fight, Alfred realized. He didn't feel quite as victorious about it as he'd imagined he might. Mostly, he just felt like his heart was beating a little too fast, and he could hear the blood rushing in his ears, and he was sweating.

Arthur was still wide-eyed and stunned as he looked back at Alfred. "You—you—"

He seemed unable to decide what to say so Alfred supplied a few of his own. "Saved your life? Am a hero? Are going to be an awesome king?" he said, giving Arthur a tentative smile. His shoulder didn't hurt yet, but it was probably going to feel like hell later. He also hoped that the girl was okay even if she had tried to kill him. It seemed by the shouts of the guards behind them, though, that she was at least still alive, because they were quickly handcuffing her arms, and discussing whether to bring her down to the dungeon cells, or to take her to the infirmary first.

"You're an _idiot_!" Arthur finally burst out. "And you're injured, you stupid arse—I can't believe you—"

And much to Alfred's surprise, Arthur leaned forward, putting his arms around Alfred's waist, and promptly buried his face in Alfred's uninjured shoulder.

Alfred felt a wave of relief at that, and it seemed like the adrenaline was finally beginning settle down, because Alfred could feel his shoulder beginning to throb, and he was also getting a bit light-headed and weak. The knee to the gut had left him feeling nauseous and ill, and combined with adrenaline overdose, he was seriously going to hurt tomorrow morning. In fact, the dizziness was getting worse and his vision was going spotted around the edges.

"Arthur," Alfred said.

"Hm?" He felt Arthur's warm breath through his shirt.

"I think I'm going to faint," Alfred said.

As he collapsed forward and his vision went dark, he felt Arthur's arms wrap more securely around him. "Go to sleep. I won't let anyone hurt you," he heard Arthur say.

And then he passed out.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC? Also, ch2 got fanart by KagomeGirl92! The link is in my profile so go check it out if you want to see it! Thank you so much!<br>**


	6. Chapter 6

**To Anon 53687:** Since you were anon, I couldn't reply to that review but I just want to shortly say, you hit everything _spot on_! Haha, it's good to know that even though there's no Arthur's POV in this fic, all the logic for his character is still coming through!

* * *

><p>Alfred woke to the sound of voices. Loud, raised voices.<p>

"We'll declare war immediately! Somebody send a messenger to that bloody frog and let him know I'll give him as many reinforcements as he wants."

Alfred recognized Arthur's voice though currently, it was giving him a headache, and he groaned, pulling a pillow over his head. They could have at least closed the door to his bedroom if they were going to argue in his antechamber. Arthur was loud enough that the pillow didn't help.

"I'm telling you, I don't bloody care! Did you see the assassin they sent? She very nearly killed Alfred!" Arthur shouted.

Apparently Yao got worked up enough to raise his voice too, because now Alfred could clearly hear what he was saying as well. "And I'm telling you, there's more going on than that! Do you not recognize her? She is Natalya from the Braginsky family," Yao said. "She's from Clubs, and if Clubs is attacking us, then chances are, Hearts has completely taken over Clubs. This is bad."

"Of course it's bad! Alfred nearly died," Arthur snapped. "We need to—"

"We need to sit down and think. You, go cool your head before you do something stupid," Yao said.

Alfred relaxed the pillow pulled over his head, but he was awake enough by now that it was pointless trying to get back to sleep. He threw back the covers, and was rolling his shoulders, testing the wound, when Arthur walked in.

"Alfred! You're awake," Arthur said and hurried over. "You shouldn't be getting up yet. You've got injuries, and your shoulder—"

"I'm fine," Alfred said. His shoulder felt sore and he really would like to stay in bed for maybe a few weeks, but he couldn't afford to show Arthur and Yao any sign of weakness now. Oddly, beyond a dull ache in his shoulder and generally feeling exhausted, Alfred was surprised he didn't feel more in pain. In fat, it only felt like he'd been through a particularly strenuous football training session back home rather than having fought an assassin and been stabbed with a knife.

"But you're still hurt," Arthur said, looking worried as he fluttered around Alfred. "That was so stupid of you," he added though he sounded more upset than angry. In fact, Arthur seemed upset enough about the whole thing that, combined with what Alfred had heard the night before, made Alfred hope that maybe Arthur would let him live after all.

"Why? Were you worried?" Alfred asked, grinning.

Arthur turned a terrific shade of red. "I—It's not because I was worried, you idiot. I mean, but if you die, I would die too, and the entire kingdom would be defenseless then," he mumbled and began twisting his fingers.

Alfred frowned, more concerned about the words than Arthur's behavior. "What?"

"I already told you before, haven't I?" Arthur said, glancing up at Alfred. "When we were going over the history of Spades. The royalty of each kingdom here are tied to the very land. While we're safe and healthy, the land prospers, but if we die, then the safety of our kingdom is also at risk."

Alfred must have looked confused enough for Arthur to sigh and try to explain more clearly. "It's why I had to get put under enchantment, remember? While I was gone and safe, the entire kingdom would be safe—"

"But Yao was still awake, wasn't he?" Alfred asked.

"Yes, but it didn't matter. A complete protection of the kingdom comes when all three members of the royalty are safe and healthy. Since we didn't have a king at the time, whether or not Yao and I both went to sleep, or if only I went to sleep, the level of protection we got would be the same," Arthur said and then sighed. "The point is, it works both ways. While even one member of the royalty is safe and healthy, a kingdom can't be fully taken over. On the other hand, if all three members of royalty are gone, then the kingdom is very vulnerable."

Alfred frowned, slowly nodding as he registered all this. "What does that have to do with us dying? Are you saying if one of us dies, all of us do?" he asked which would make no sense under the circumstances considering none of the other members of royalty seemed to have taken the throne at the same time.

"No, that's just you and I," Arthur said, glancing at Alfred again. "Because of the enchantment spell – the one that Yao and I used was a sleeping spell that should have preserved me for centuries if done right."

"What does that have to do with me?" Alfred asked.

"It's a contract," Arthur said. "You k-kissed me," he said and then went red again, looking down at his hands. "And that broke the spell. You've studied it in our history too – the lords and ladies under enchantment that are kissed and awakened?"

"Like fairytales?" Alfred said. He remembered vaguely reading about one or two marriages that had happened mentioning some sort of enchantment, but since they had mostly been happening with noble families who weren't actual royalty, he hadn't given it much thought other than memorizing some dates and names.

"What? They're not stories, they're true," Arthur said. "They all married the people who broke the spells because they had to for the contract," he said, and when Alfred still looked confused, Arthur began to get impatient. "Wedding vows. Even your world must have them – 'till death do us apart'?" he said.

"Yeah…" Alfred said, still not entirely understanding the connection.

"All the couples who were under the enchantment and had it broken are bonded together very literally," Arthur said. "Their very lives are bound – if one dies, then so does the other. It's all in the contract. Of course back in the day, some fathers would have their daughters put under spells just to find a suitable husband. And some of the more obnoxious young princes or noblemen would get put under it to find a good wife – after all, you can't exactly get rid of someone who you would risk dying along with."

It made an odd sort of sense even though Alfred hadn't exactly been a huge fan of fairytales as a kid – he enjoyed the adventuring and saving people part, but when it got to the mushy romance bits, he was more or less out of there. Still, it was an odd set of rules for Spades, but this wasn't exactly a normal place to begin with.

Alfred took a deep breath as he got it all sorted in his head. "So what you're saying is you and me are bonded together because of a stupid spell so if I die, you also die. And because we're royalty, we're also bonded to Spades. So if we die, then Spades is screwed," he summarized.

"The boy can be taught," Arthur said dryly.

"None of those other enchanted couples were real royalty, though, right? I mean, like us," Alfred said.

"Of course not. We normally wouldn't put royalty under that sort of enchantment. They could end up married to anyone," Arthur said.

"I get it, you were forced to marry me," Alfred said. It meant that Arthur might not actually be so against Alfred dying regardless of how frantic he'd seemed. It only meant that Arthur knew that if Alfred died, so would he… until they managed to get back to Earth anyway.

"That isn't what I meant, I—"

"Right then," Alfred said, pulling on his shoes, wincing as he pulled his shoulder again, and headed for the door. He wasn't feeling great at the moment but he even less wanted to deal with Arthur and his insincere concern and mixed signals at the moment.

"Wait, where are you going? You still need to rest," Arthur said.

"Don't worry, I won't accidentally kill myself," Alfred said with a backwards wave, and walked out the door without waiting for Arthur.

* * *

><p>The good thing about the wedding drawing closer was that Arthur didn't have as much time to hang around Alfred anymore between the war and wedding preparations. It was relieving not being under Arthur's scrutiny all the time, and Alfred was left to study and train by himself. So since the one thing Alfred really actually enjoyed in Spades was his newfound strength and apparent fast healing ability – his shoulder ached for two days but was more or less healed by the third – he spent more time out with the knights.<p>

Although he'd been training for less than a month, Alfred was already starting to get a good grasp of his strength – enough so that he was allowed to practice with the normal soldiers now. The thing was, even though Tim kept telling him he had to think about strategy and learn how to gauge his opponents and their skill, it all seemed rather useless when just one shove could send Alfred's opponent reeling. When Alfred could literally out power and outfight every single opponent thrown at him, it seemed rather pointless to even bother with strategy. So while Alfred did learn the basics of exactly how he was supposed to wield a sword to stab someone and put them out of commission, or where to throw his spears so they would lodge between chinks in the armor, he preferred simply to see how many soldiers could take him on at once before Alfred started having trouble dealing with them.

Tim more often than not got annoyed with Alfred for turning practice into a brawl, but one good thing that came out of it was that Alfred was starting to get to know a lot of the soldiers and knights quite well. There was just something about beating each other up that made guys bond. And while a lot of the soldiers had been quite wary of Alfred at first, after a good tussle, they seemed to warm up to him as did Alfred to them. It made Alfred feel just a little bit safer that if Arthur and Yao set a bunch of soldiers after him, that perhaps some of his new friends would think twice before running him through.

Antonio and Lovino also came to train with the Spades regiment on occasion. The first time they did, Alfred realized something rather odd. While Antonio was quite good with various weapons and even got unexpectedly serious when he was in a particularly challenging fight, the biggest surprise was Lovino, his so-called best knight.

Lovino was the worst fighter Alfred had ever seen in his life.

It wasn't so much that Lovino was incredibly clumsy or anything, but that Lovino was mediocre at everything and simply incredibly weak. He could aim more or less, but he couldn't pull back the string on a longbow and relied on crossbows which Lovino even found a chore to reload. He more or less knew all the right footwork and positions that were important in sword fighting, but if anyone asked him to wield a sword for longer than fifteen minutes, Lovino would start to complain he was tired and get all red-faced and sweaty. Alfred was willing to bet that even without his super strength, he was much more athletic and good at fighting than Lovino was, and Alfred wasn't all that great at actual fighting without his strength.

"If Lovino is your best knight, your country is seriously screwed, no offense," Alfred said to them one night after practice as they headed to dinner together.

He'd had a good workout and while it took longer and longer for him to get tired or sore now, Alfred was feeling the good burn of muscles well worked out.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean, goddamnit?" Lovino snapped and glared at Alfred, though they'd already fought together enough times that Lovino was well aware of Alfred's strength and didn't seem to quite dare try and throttle him the way he did to Antonio.

"Lovino isn't very good at fighting, but he's still my favorite," Antonio said cheerfully. "Isn't he cute?"

"You stupid tomato bastard, what do you fucking mean I'm cute? I'm not fucking cute!" Lovino shouted even as Antonio beamed at him.

"It was love at first sight," Antonio said. And while Alfred probably couldn't call himself the most observant person in the world, it didn't take any genius to figure it out. It was really extremely obvious despite Lovino's protests to the fact – unless in Diamonds, it was normal to kiss and hug every few minutes when not actually occupied with some other activity and sometimes even then. "I saved him from bandits when we were traveling through Hearts, you know—"

"I was fine, you idiot!" Lovino shouted.

"You were crying," Antonio said happily and then wound his arms around Lovino's waist which made it both awkward to walk, and just a little too publicly affectionate. Of course Antonio did seem to be Spanish, and Lovino was some sort of Mediterranean as well – Italian, maybe, Alfred thought, so maybe it wasn't so unusual to be touchy feely.

"Get off me, bastard," Lovino said, elbowing Antonio until he loosened up, but when he did, Lovino took Antonio's hand instead which made Antonio burst into all sorts of happy smiles.

"So then we eloped," Antonio finished happily.

"It was fucking kidnap, idiot—" Lovino was abruptly cut off by a quick kiss from Antonio who beamed at him some more. Lovino went red, but his protests seemed half-hearted.

It was sort of an odd relationship, but it seemed to make the both of them happy enough – well, Lovino was debatable, but Antonio was happy enough for the both of them.

Of course not everyone was welcoming to the two Diamonds soldiers, and Arthur was one of them. Every time Arthur saw the odd couple, he seemed to want to antagonize them. At least partially, Alfred knew it was probably because Antonio had contributed to Arthur's childhood bullying – it was sort of difficult to imagine Antonio actually bullying anyone, but he was best friends with Francis so he had probably gotten involved somehow or other.

"Are you sure I don't know you?" Arthur asked, glaring at Lovino again as they waited for another strategy meeting to begin.

Lovino jumped. "I already said—"

"Stop bullying my Lovi," Antonio said, frowning as he wrapped an arm around Lovino's middle and resting his chin on Lovino's shoulder.

"Fuck off, Antonio," Arthur said, holding up two fingers in the rude salute though his eyes had darted to where Antonio's arms were and he seemed to be trying to set Antonio's hands on fire via his glare. "You two are disgusting."

"You're one to be talking the way you're always fucking clinging to Al—" Lovino snapped his mouth shut and went even redder when Arthur shot an even more venomous glare at him.

"Yeah, you need to get laid," Antonio said cheerfully and Alfred pretended not to notice as Arthur went a terrific shade of red and stomped to the other end of the table.

"When is this bloody meeting going to start?" Arthur demanded so loudly that the room instantly went quiet. "Did you contact that stupid frog yet?" he snapped at Antonio.

"Of course I did," Antonio said cheerfully and let go of Lovino to straighten up. "Francis says he is going to come early and stay until the wedding's done. He'll be here in a few days. Lili and Vash have to stay in Diamonds until the eve of the wedding to keep an eye on the defense right now."

The room was more crowded than usual. Now that the wedding date was getting so near, more and more nobility were coming to the Spades capital. Most of them were from the other parts of Spades because, disguised as wedding invitations, Yao had also sent notifications to all the generals, knights, and nobility to gather them for discussions of war. It meant that these days, the castle was getting filled with more and more strangers that Alfred didn't know – some of who seemed incredibly impressed with him, and others who looked down their noses at him.

Arthur's brothers had also come to the castle, much to Arthur's annoyance, because they were staying in the Queen's royal quarters. Most nights now, Alfred could hear sounds of arguing and fighting coming from down the corridor.

"Does anyone have any other news we should be aware of before we get to battle strategy?" Yao asked.

"I do," William spoke up.

Arthur glared at him but William didn't even bother looking at him. "Francis sent us a message about Clubs. He might have sent you one too, Antonio," he said. "Apart from Natalya of the Braginsky family that you caught last week, they also captured a Toris Lorianitis from Clubs."

"Toris Lorianitis…" Yao said. "He one of Ivan's top generals, isn't he?"

"I've heard he's the head of the Clubs secret division," Conor said.

"He was aiming to assassinate Lili, they think, but he still won't speak," William said.

Arthur frowned. "Two assassins from Clubs – what does that mean? Have they been taken over by Hearts?"

Yao shook his head. "It can't be. Elizabeta and Roderich have already both sent notice that they're going to attend the wedding."

"Maybe it's Ivan," Arthur said, frowning. "He's always been a bit…odd, and we haven't heard from him yet. Natalya and Toris both work under him…"

"It's no use speculating until we have more information. Maybe Francis will have more detailed information for us when he gets here," Yao said. "And when Roderich and Elizabeta arrive for the wedding, we'll have time then to discuss an official alliance."

The others around the table all nodded in agreement. With just a little more than a week left until the wedding, there wasn't a point trying to contact Clubs when they would en route to Spades.

"It's certain now that we will declare war?" a duke from one of the cities by the coast asked.

Arthur and Yao exchanged a look. "We've decided to declare official war as soon as the wedding and coronation are complete," Arthur said.

It brought up another buzz of discussion around the table.

"That soon?" William asked.

"What? You wanted us to help Diamonds, didn't you?" Arthur snapped at him.

"Hearts has sent notice of their intentions to come to the coronation," Yao said calmly. "Aside from the three royalty members, they have said that they intend to bring along twenty or so more assorted members of their kingdom – most of them also hold high positions in their army. We do not know how many more members of their entourage plan to come, but it is obvious they view us as a threat if they are bringing so many people."

Alfred frowned as he listened. No one asked for his opinion or input on the situation. But knowing what he did about Arthur and Yao's plan to kill him back on Earth, he wondered how that was supposed to come into play if they were going to declare war so soon. He'd have to watch and see if they had any more of their secret meetings.

"If we take them by surprise, we may be able to capture at least one or two members of the royalty and at least a number of their noblemen at the wedding feast," Arthur said. "If we're successful, we might be able to avert fighting at all if we do it right."

It was just the sort of sneaky plan that Arthur would come up with, Alfred thought, half-admiringly even if it was also the exact sort of thing that made Arthur completely untrustworthy.

Then the meeting turned to just how much manpower and weaponry and resources they had. Antonio and Arthur began to discuss naval strategies between them and how quickly Arthur could mobilize reinforcements to help Diamonds at the front.

Alfred just listened and watched so he would be ready when the time came for him to find his way back to Earth.

* * *

><p>Six days before the wedding, Alfred woke to the sound of clanging swords outside of his bedroom. He fumbled on his glasses, lit the lamp on his nightstand, and grabbed the sword he kept by his bed ever since the first time he'd been attacked.<p>

The sound of fighting got louder when he walked into the antechamber, and as soon as he opened the door to the corridor, he was nearly skewered with a sword.

"Get out of the way, you idiot!" Arthur shouted at Alfred and through the flickering lights of the hallway, Alfred could see Arthur was fighting with another dark-clothed figure. It was just a bit too dim to see the attacker clearly, but as soon as the assassin – and it had to be another assassin – saw Alfred, he lunged at him. The assassin was fighting with a pair of short, twin knives. It meant that he had to fight at closer range to injure, which was lucky for Alfred.

Alfred automatically brought his sword up to block the hit, and was half-surprised that it actually connected when he'd never really done this outside of practice. He managed to parry the thrust, and because his sword was longer, it gave him the extra distance to dodge when the assassin brought the second blade up. The short parry gave Arthur enough time to recover his equilibrium and join in the fight again.

As soon as the assassin saw that it was now two against one, and he – or possibly she since the build of the person was even smaller than Arthur and slimmer – wasn't going to win, he turned and ran down the corridor.

"Guards! There's an intruder!" Arthur shouted, racing after the assassin.

Alfred followed, but whoever it was, was much faster than Natalya and he seemed to vanish into thin air two corridors down.

By the time the bells were ringing, there was no sign of the intruder at all. Arthur was furious, shouting orders and yelling at the guards who he threatened to discharge for incompetence, but even after the entire castle had been combed through, they didn't find the assassin. It took two hours and Alfred's chambers were searched twice more under Arthur's orders.

When Alfred was finally allowed to go back to his chambers, he'd more or less calmed down from the adrenaline rush of the fight. This time, he'd been more prepared and actually got in a bit of fighting before the assassin realized he was outmatched, and over all, Alfred was pretty happy with himself.

Arthur, on the other hand, had been jumpy ever since the fight, and he followed Alfred into the room without waiting for an invitation.

"Maybe you should have a guard inside. We're high up, but assassins have a way of getting around these things," he said, looking anxiously at the windows around Alfred's bedroom.

"Wasn't he after you?" Alfred asked, a bit surprised, since it was Arthur who had been fighting the assassin.

Arthur went red. "Um, no," he said. "I… I was just passing outside your room, of course, and I happened to see the assassin trying to get in," he said, but he wouldn't meet Alfred's eyes.

Alfred frowned as he put the pieces together. "Have you been stationing yourself outside my room?" he asked. He knew he'd hit the mark on the dot when Arthur got even more agitated.

"I was only passing outside your rooms," Arthur said a little too quickly. "You're the one who didn't want guards outside you room all the time. If you'd just take the protection you should, then I wouldn't have to—to—" Arthur cut himself off, going redder.

"You've been staying outside my room every night since then?" Alfred asked incredulously. It seemed a bit excessive even if Arthur would die if Alfred died. It was more the sort of thing that made it seem like Arthur was doing it because he was genuinely worried for Alfred.

"Anyway, you have to take a guard inside your antechamber at least," Arthur said. "Preferably your bedroom too."

"The assassin didn't even get inside," Alfred said, rubbing his forehead. It was giving him a headache trying to figure out just what Arthur meant by all this – was it his own self-preservation or was he actually worried for Alfred? "A guard in the corridor is enough."

"But—"

"I'm tired. I'm going to sleep," Alfred said and shut the door to his bedroom before Arthur could protest more.

Alfred kicked off his shoes and put his sword by the bed again. He managed to lie down for all of five minutes before he began thinking of Arthur sitting outside his door with a sword in his arms. Arthur did look thinner and more tired lately, though Alfred had attributed it to all the preparations going on – he hadn't thought it might be because Arthur spent his nights keeping watch at Alfred's door, and the thought made his chest tighten. It might very well be because Arthur was scared for his own life by proxy of Alfred's, but it didn't mean that Alfred didn't still feel a little guilty at the thought of Arthur keeping watch every night in a cold stone corridor.

Alfred groaned, kicking back the covers, and getting to his feet again.

Sure enough, when he yanked open the door to the corridor, Arthur nearly fell over backwards from where he was sitting just outside on the stone floor.

"Alfred," Arthur said, startled as he scrambled to his feet.

Alfred sighed. "Come inside," he said.

"But—"

"Look, I'm not going to be able to sleep knowing you're out here all night anyway," Alfred said. "You're seriously an idiot, you know that? Have you been doing this every night?"

Arthur flushed as he followed Alfred inside.

"You know I'm stronger than every single person in this entire world," Alfred said. "I think I can take care of myself."

"But you're inexperienced," Arthur said. "And—"

"You can take the left side," Alfred said as they walked into his bedroom.

Arthur turned a couple shades darker. "We're going to share the bed?" he asked faintly.

He looked so shocked at the idea that it was almost laughable if Alfred didn't feel nearly as uncomfortable about sharing a bed with his possible future assassin. As it was, though, it would have been odd not to. "Of course. We're both guys," he said and then, unable to resist teasing Arthur a little, grinned. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to you."

Arthur's surprise turned to embarrassed anger as he glared at Alfred and stomped to the left side of the bed. "Of course you're not, idiot!" he snapped, kicking off his shoes and shedding his coat before he got into bed.

Alfred shrugged as he went to the other side and did the same. At least the bed was most definitely a king size bed so it could probably easily fit three more people without a problem. As long as they both kept to their sides of the bed, Alfred wouldn't even have to get near Arthur.

Still, Alfred didn't quite dare to go to sleep until Arthur's rustling stopped and eventually, his breathing evened out.

"Arthur?" Alfred whispered after Arthur's breathing had gone slow.

There was no sound from the other side of the bed and when Alfred shifted a little, he could see Arthur's face was smooth and his eyes shut.

Only then did he get up and go to his desk where he kept a spare dagger. And then, with a sword at his bedside, and a dagger under his pillow, Alfred finally went into a fitful sleep.

* * *

><p>Alfred woke the next morning to the smell of lavender and something warm and pliant in his arms. When he cracked his eyes open, he froze upon seeing something fuzzy and golden in front of his face that he nearly mistook for a yellow caterpillar before he realized it was hair – Arthur's hair that was even more tousled than normal from sleep.<p>

Despite having gone to sleep on opposite sides of the bed, Arthur had managed to scoot so far over on the bed in his sleep, that they'd ended up in a weird, half-spooning sort of position. Arthur clearly was used to a big bed that he could sprawl all over.

Alfred slowly backed up and got out of bed, pulling the covers back up for Arthur who squirmed a little at the cold air, but settled instantly back down into sleep. Up close, Alfred could see the dark shadows around Arthur's eyes, and how he looked thinner than usual probably because he hadn't been sleeping properly. So instead of kicking Arthur out of bed like he'd originally intended to immediately upon awakening, Alfred got dressed and left Arthur sleeping while he left to get breakfast and begin his morning studying.

Even more people had arrived now – several from Diamonds, and even a few from Clubs. Most of them took rooms around the inns in the city. Some of the more important people got to stay in the castle, and though these rooms were mostly reserved for Spades nobility, there were also guest rooms quartered off for the other kingdoms' royalty when they arrived.

Francis had also got in late the night before with a good-sized entourage if all the servants hurrying around and talking about His Majesty of Diamonds was anything to go by. It meant that the castle was more crowded than ever and noisy just about everywhere even this early in the morning. The only places Alfred felt like he wasn't crashing into people were the king's study and Arthur's gardens outside which seemed to be as abandoned as always. Alfred had taken to studying in either one of those places, but today, the courtyard was so busy with servants rushing around with preparations, that even the knights had been kicked out to go practice in one of the grass fields outside of the city, and although Alfred found the gardens abandoned as usual, he could hear all the noise coming from the castle even from there. He studied only a bit in the gardens before he gave up and went back in, hoping that it might be more quiet up in the tower where the study was.

It wasn't until Alfred reached the king's study that he realized he was missing one of his books. Alfred groaned, but the book had all the different relationships between the royalty and nobles that he was supposed to have memorized by the time the wedding and coronation came, so he had to make his way back down, dodging people as he went.

"Morning, Alfred," Antonio called when Alfred nearly ran into him. He was, as usual, with Lovino and Alfred wondered whether those two were ever apart. "We're going to train outside. Are you coming?" he asked.

"The fucking courtyard is fucking crowded," Lovino added, scowling, though he seemed in a better mood than usual.

"No, I need to study before I can go," Alfred said. "I heard Francis got here last night?"

Antonio nodded happily. "He's still sleeping," he said. "He's tired. Things haven't been going well on the war front," he added, sounding serious for once.

"Stop feeling sorry that fucking pervert," Lovino snapped.

"Aw, Lovi, are you jealous?" Antonio asked, instantly regaining his cheer as he kissed Lovino's cheek.

"You fucking bastard, get off me!" Lovino shouted, turning red.

Alfred laughed. "I'm going to go study. I'll see you guys later," he said, jogging down the corridor and leaving the bickering couple behind him.

The garden was still undisturbed though noisy when Alfred walked through the gates again, but instead of being abandoned, the two Jokers had appeared there sometime while Alfred was gone.

Peter was perched on the swing, though he couldn't get it to move, and he was deep in conversation with Gilbert. Peter was the first to notice Alfred and he turned and waved, his serious expression breaking out into a grin.

"Push me, Alfred!" Peter demanded.

Gilbert looked startled to see Alfred. In sunlight this strong, both Jokers seemed to waver like a mirage, slightly transparent so if Alfred stared hard, he could see the rose bush right behind Gilbert, a faint outline through his legs.

Gilbert simply stared at Alfred for a moment, his face expressionless.

"What are you doing here?" Alfred asked.

Gilbert continued to look thoughtful – the most serious that Alfred had seen either of the Jokers so far – and it was unsettling to watch as Gilbert began to circle him as though inspecting him. "I come here enough. There's not much to do as a Joker," he said, shrugging.

"It's so boring," Peter said. "Push me!" he demanded again, kicking his feet until Alfred walked over and pushed the swing. "There's never anything to do."

"You got lucky, twerp," Gilbert said to Peter. "Your brother saved you from dying."

"You weren't?" Alfred asked.

Gilbert glared at him. "I'll have you know, the awesome me wasn't going to die at all," he declared proudly, smacking himself on the chest.

"Really?" Alfred asked.

"Of course! Does it look like the great Gilbert Beilschmidt is that easy to take down?" Gilbert said and grinned. "Anyway, you didn't listen to our warnings," he said.

"I haven't had a choice," Alfred said. By now, he wasn't very scared of the Jokers anymore even if they were slightly see-through at the moment. "I'd leave if I could," he said. He knew just as well how much danger he'd been in lately with the assassins and Arthur and Yao after him.

Gilbert looked at him. "This is your last warning now and then what happens is your problem," he said and pointed at Alfred. "You have to leave before your coronation day."

"The coronation?" Alfred asked, frowning.

"I still can't believe you want to marry my wanker brother," Peter said.

"That's not exactly a choice either," Alfred said, annoyed, because it really wasn't.

"Everything's a choice," Gilbert said. "You can't marry him if you don't want to die."

Then, somewhat like the cats had done when they were there, the Jokers swiveled towards the gate. "Arthur's coming," Peter said.

"You have to make a choice," Gilbert said, his voice fading into nothing along with both the Jokers who had disappeared. "Things must be as they should be."

Alfred stood, looking at nothing, when Arthur walked through the gates of the garden.

"Alfred, I've been looking for you," Arthur said.

Alfred shook himself, picking up the book he'd come to get, but couldn't shake off the chilled feeling he had. The Jokers had warned him now about the coronation and wedding. He couldn't get married to Arthur if he didn't want to die, which would imply that being married to Arthur was what would kill him. Beside the actual ceremony though, they were actually already married even if it was just as a bond and nothing else. That meant it had to be something else.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked when Alfred didn't respond.

Alfred exhaled and put on a smile. "Nothing. What did you need me for?"

Arthur looked worried, but he didn't question Alfred. "We need to rehearse the ceremony," he said. "I don't have much time right now – now that Francis is here, we'll have to begin formal discussions of war soon – but I can at least give you a quick overview."

Alfred followed him, still lost in thought at the new warning from Gilbert and only half listening as Arthur lead him to the throne room.

"You'll start in here first," Arthur said. "It's quite a traditional ceremony, you understand. When it's just a coronation, it's usually tied with the funeral of the old monarch as well, but for a wedding, the wedding and coronation more or less take place together."

The great hall was incredibly busy today with servants standing on chairs and ladders to dust off statues and chandeliers, others polishing the windows and thrones until they gleamed. The huge flag banners had been taken down for cleaning, but other small flags and tapestries were being put up everywhere as long pews were also being carried in through the door to set up seating for the honored guests. Still other seats were being laid out for a small orchestra.

"As it's a wedding and I'm the Queen, I'll be coming through the door after everything has been settled inside. The vows will be a bit different as this is, of course, a political marriage – they're more vows to the state and your position than anything else," Arthur said, gesturing to the huge double doors leading to the throne room.

Alfred nodded, still thinking about the warning. Was there something in the ceremony that might kill Alfred then? A part of the ceremony that would be a danger to him? Or maybe the Jokers had found out that Alfred was from a different world and something inherent in the ceremony might kill him.

"Yao and I will be conducting the ceremonial vows and coronation for you. You'll be asked to bow, and then I'll crown you and give you your scepter," Arthur said. "After that, we'll have to walk outside to the spade time tree."

Arthur left the throne room again, dodging several servants as they walked into the courtyard. There were more people here, mostly servants who were carrying laundry and clean bedding or various cleaning supplies, as well as several soldiers and nobility simply heading to one place or another. Arthur lead Alfred all the way to the other side of the courtyard where there was a huge spade time tree planted close by the gates fencing off the gardens. It was bigger than most he had seen up to now which were mostly the size of short, stubby bushes. This one though, was taller than both Arthur and Alfred, and it actually looked like a tree – albeit a rather stubby tree, but still it had the proper trunk and high branches and leaves and all.

Alfred had vaguely wondered about this tree before since it seemed to be inconvenient and out of place in the courtyard where the knights were always practicing. He'd always assumed that so close to the garden, it had simply been a misplaced seed that grew into a spade time tree, but that no one could cut down on account of it being a royal symbol. Apparently, it did have a purpose though.

"The procession will lead across the courtyard and end here at the spade time tree," Arthur said. "You'll be expected to pick a clock and show it to all the people as proof you are the chosen king."

Alfred nodded, looking up at the spade clocks that decorated the tree, all ticking calmly in time.

"At that point, the ceremony is considered complete," Arthur finished, taking out his own spade pocket watch which spun and then the hands slowly came to rest, the minute hand pointed 3 o'clock at Alfred, and the hour hand pointed 7 o'clock at Arthur.

Arthur flushed. "Of course you're already king even without the ceremony due to the enchantment, but no one knows about that. The people will expect a ceremony in any case." He reached up, cupping one of the clocks there. "That will be the spade clock you can keep and if you ever need to find me, the hour hand will be the compass."

"Yeah," Alfred said absently, still worried about the warning Gilbert had given him.

Still, he couldn't figure out a way to get back to Earth from here in less than five days until the wedding. He still knew no magic, and he couldn't ask Arthur or Yao or anyone else for help here. Arthur had said that Alfred was to stay here until the coronation was over even though it was really only ceremonial in their case.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked.

Alfred started and found Arthur looking at him, concerned. He quickly nodded and flashed him a grin. "Yeah, just uh, thinking about the coronation and stuff," he said by way of excuse.

Arthur gave him a small smile. "You'll do fine," he said, and reached up to brush away a few strands of Alfred's hair that had fallen into his eyes. "Of course, even if you didn't, Spades already recognizes you as king," he said, gesturing to his own spade time clock. "And we'll begin practicing for the ceremony in a few days as soon as things are set up."

"Right," Alfred said, wondering again at the smile on Arthur's face and trying to find the deception there.

"Have you begun memorizing the vows yet?" Arthur asked. "I'll practice them with you."

In the following days, they ran through the basics of the ceremony several times, and there were increasingly more meetings about the military strategies that they would take once the ceremony was over. Alfred felt like he'd been caught in the lull before the storm. He was busy every day, but the wedding hadn't happened yet, war had not yet been declared – just endless amounts of preparation. Nights were usually spent either following Arthur to see if he was meeting with Yao, and if not, then going to bed. Some nights, Alfred would be startled awake when Arthur came in late from preparations or meetings just to strip into his nightshirt and slip into bed next to Alfred, whispering a quiet "good night" before he curled up next to Alfred. Alfred pretended not to notice it, and went to sleep every night with one hand tucked under his pillow, wrapped around his knife. Other nights, Arthur wouldn't show up at all, but Alfred would find him the next morning, asleep in Alfred's antechamber with his head pillowed on a stack of books, and scrolls and scrolls of military numbers and maps spread out around him.

There had been one more assassination attempt, though it was by far the briefest and had been stopped by the two guards stationed right outside of Alfred's antechamber. Other than that, the Jokers hadn't showed up again, nor had anything changed on the warfront.

The quiet lasted up until two nights away from the wedding.

Alfred had just finished getting fitted for the last adjustments to his royal king's uniform he would be required to wear for the wedding.

"I think that's it for today," Arthur said from where he had been watching Alfred get fitted while going over the lists of toasts and speeches Alfred would be required to make and revising everything he was supposed to say so that it would simultaneously be polite, and yet not too polite to Hearts. "All the rest of the guests will be arriving tomorrow and you'll have to be careful of what you say to any of them," he said.

"I know," Alfred said for the umpteenth time.

Aside from Francis, none of the other royals had arrived yet though it was understandable with the way the rest of the world was at the moment. No one wanted to leave until absolutely necessary even though the coronation and wedding announcements had drawn a temporary ceasefire for the war as planned with all the royals having to travel to Spades for the ceremony.

"You might as well get some sleep. You'll have to put on your best act tomorrow," Arthur said, stifling a yawn as he got to his feet.

"What about you?" Alfred asked as he pulled his own shirt back on and straightened up his glasses.

"I've just got a few more things to take care of," Arthur said with a tired smile. "I'll meet you later," he said.

Alfred nodded and watched as Arthur left the room with a pile of his scrolls. Then he left the clothes to the servants, waiting for just a few moments before he also left through the door and followed after Arthur.

So far, Arthur had met with Yao only once more during which nothing had been concluded and the discussion had turned into an argument. Arthur still didn't seem sure he wanted Alfred killed although Yao had been pushing for it, and the two had seemed to be rather annoyed with each other afterwards. That had been three nights ago, which meant that sometime soon, Arthur would probably meet with Yao again, and sure enough, tonight Arthur headed again to the library. Alfred was more careful about eavesdropping now, cracking the door open just enough to hear their voices and keeping his eyes open to any sort of changes in the corridor because he did not want to get caught by another assassin this way. Arthur and Yao hadn't questioned why Alfred had been in that corridor when he was attacked the first time, but they'd definitely catch on if it happened again.

When he cracked open the door, Arthur and Yao were already talking.

"All of our navy are stocked and ready for deployment as soon as we give the signal," Arthur was saying.

"Good. And the army?" Yao asked.

"The ones that aren't here I've sent to our important naval ports," Arthur said. "We've got a lot of our commanders here for the ceremony, but they can be deployed as soon as it's done. In any case, Hearts couldn't travel any faster than our men can."

"The sentries have all been set up?" Yao asked.

"At all the major cities and ports. The last of the messengers reported in today that everything is ready," Arthur said. "If we keep our ports protected, it would be difficult for Hearts to even get here."

"Good," Yao said. "And as for Alfred…"

"I still don't think we should do this," Arthur said immediately. "He's really a good man unlike you or me. He'd probably make the best royalty of the three of us."

It warmed Alfred a little to hear that, even though he didn't think he was entirely deserving of that statement – he was working entirely for his own good at the moment and eavesdropping was hardly heroic behavior.

"It has nothing to do with how good of a person he is, but how good for the kingdom he is," Yao said. "And right now, everyone knows he's the risk. The assassins have been attacking him because they know he's our weakness—"

"That's not Alfred's fault," Arthur said.

"I'm saying that one man is not worth our entire kingdom!" Yao snapped. "And as Queen of Spades, you should know that our first thought should be for our nation. Or has all you've been fighting for up until now mean nothing to you all because of him?"

Arthur went silent.

"If you understand, then listen to me," Yao said. "I've figured out how to send you and Alfred back to his world and time."

"His time?" Arthur asked and Alfred listened a little harder.

"Yes, time," Yao said. "We did not make a mistake with our first enchantment. You did indeed sleep for a thousand years in Alfred's world until he woke you."

That was impossible, Alfred thought as he listened. And yet, he remembered the first time he'd seen Arthur sleeping when he was just ten years old, and how Arthur had looked exactly the same back then and now.

"A thousand years?" Arthur repeated.

"Yes, there was no mistake in that. The problem was when Alfred woke you and broke the enchantment that brought you both back here," Yao said.

"You're saying we time traveled?" Arthur asked with an incredulous laugh. "That's impossible."

"I don't know _how_ it was possible, but it happened," Yao said. "It may simply have been the difference between our two worlds, or something else that happened."

"But you can bring us both back to his time?" Arthur asked.

"As long as Alfred is in the spell, it won't be difficult to return him to the place he came from and you along with him," Yao said. "I've made the preparations at the ruins of the old castle though thanks to you, it's mostly rubble now."

"Why there?" Arthur asked.

"There is a higher chance of success if we use the location he first appeared here," Yao said. "I've already set down the circle and magic. All it needs is activation."

This time, Arthur didn't try to protest about killing Alfred.

"We'll do it right after the ceremony is over," Yao said. "We'll tell Alfred it's to put him into hiding – he knows now that as long as just one member of the royalty is safe, the kingdom cannot be taken over. When you are both back in his world, you know what to do."

"He'd never believe it," Arthur said. "He wouldn't run away when he knows our kingdom has to go to war. He wouldn't abandon us."

"Then it is your responsibility to convince him," Yao said coldly.

Alfred had heard enough, and he left for his chambers. Now he knew for certain the plan that Yao and Arthur had for him – if only they had said how to activate that circle of magic, then Alfred could be going back home right now. Now it meant he'd have to figure something out before Arthur tried to take him back to Earth and kill him.

He got undressed and flopped back on his bed but he couldn't sleep even as tired as he was. It still didn't explain what the Jokers had been warning him about. And although he'd thought he might have a chance that Arthur would insist on not killing him, he knew that as hard as Arthur had worked to become and stay queen, there was no way Arthur could risk all of Spades just for Alfred.

Alfred had just managed to drift into a troubled, shallow sleep when the door creaked open. His first thought was that it was an assassin and he slowly reached beneath his pillow for the dagger.

After a few moments, Alfred felt the bed dip, and he immediately dove to action, reaching blindly for the intruder and throwing him on the bed, dagger pinned against the intruder's throat.

"Alfred!" Arthur gasped. Alfred should have expected him – after all, he had two guards posted outside and it was extremely unlikely for an assassin to get into his chambers. But at the moment, Alfred was betrayed and upset enough, that with Arthur at his mercy, he pushed down harder on Arthur's pinned wrists until he let out a gasp of pain. Alfred felt a flash of guilt and quickly let go of him.

"Sorry, I thought it was an assassin," Alfred said, returning the dagger beneath his pillow as Arthur sat up, rubbing his wrists.

"That's good," Arthur said. "You should be careful."

He never suspected that Alfred might have really hurt him, or that Alfred knew anything of what Arthur and Yao had been plotting. If Alfred hadn't known what Arthur was planning to do, he might have felt guilty about deceiving him like this, but as it was, Alfred simply felt conflicted.

"Sorry," Alfred said again even though he had wanted to hurt Arthur just a little.

"It's all right," Arthur said, scooting a little closer to Alfred and brushing his face. "We're all a bit stressed."

Well, Arthur wasn't lying about that.

"Get some sleep now. Tomorrow all the rest of our guests will be arriving and you'll have to put your etiquette to work," Arthur said quietly. He lay down on the bed, letting out a small sigh of contentment, and after a moment, Alfred did too.

As usual, they stayed on opposite sides of the bed without touching even if Alfred was sure that by morning, Arthur would be sprawled all over the bed again.

"Arthur," Alfred said after a moment.

"Hm?" Arthur asked, sounding sleepy from the other side of the bed, his face hidden in the shadows of the clean, white sheets.

"I know you don't have a choice," Alfred said. "But do you really want me as your king?" he asked slowly.

He felt the bed dip again, and then Arthur had shifted and his face was bathed in moonlight where it was pillowed not two feet away from Alfred, and he could see Arthur's eyes shining, the dark shadows of his eyelashes across his cheeks.

"I wouldn't have any other," Arthur said.

Arthur's hand slipped into Alfred's, loose above the sheets, bridging the distance between them on the wide bed, and the smile that Arthur gave Alfred was sad.

* * *

><p>Despite being sort of a calm before the storm chapter, why is it still so long… Anyway!<p>

**Spades is getting translated into Chinese now by shouquan! So if any CN readers want to see it, the links are in my profile and thank you so so much!  
>Also, dragonheart3 and Deidara'sgirl19 have both drawn gorgeous fanart for this fic that you guys can also see in my profile links!<strong>

**THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS TO ME. ;o;**

So then a question for you all since you are wonderful and amazing!** I was going to leave this at T-rated, but since some people have expressed interest, how many people want/are opposed to this fic getting at least one legit sex scene and moving up to M-rated? **It's really not huge in the way of plot and I was going to have fade-to-black sex anyway, but if people really want, I can write out the sex scenes instead of fading out.  
>If it does happen though, I can say now that it'll likely be topping America and bottoming England for various reasons with the setup of this fic. And I think some current readers prefer the opposite in which case, fade-to-black might be better so people can imagine whatever they want, so I'm leaving it to you guys to choose if you want M-rated or not. Yesno? Opinions? :D

Anyway, wedding/coronation in the next part! Finally :D


	7. Chapter 7

**In this part, new couples are: Germany/Italy, Austria/Hungary, and also some hinted France/Seychelles.**

* * *

><p>"Alfred, wake up, Yao wants us in the king's study for a meeting."<p>

Arthur was shaking Alfred's shoulder with one hand while trying to button up a shirt with his other when Alfred finally cracked his eyes open.

"A meeting? Now?" Alfred asked, taking a deep breath, but sitting up and groping for the glasses by the bedside.

Arthur nodded as he got off the bed and resumed dressing. "Hurry up. All the rest of the royalty are due to arrive today and there are still preparations we need to make before then."

When they came out of Alfred's chambers, it seemed like the entire castle was in a state of perpetual chaos. Servants were rushing everywhere as guest after new guest arrived, and it seemed that even the library was too crowded for Yao today because they met in the king's study – one of the few places in the castle left that still had a modicum of peace though even from the tower, they could hear the noise down below.

"Arthur and Alfred, we are going to tell people you are in love," Yao announced without preamble as soon as Arthur and Alfred walked in.

Alfred paused. That was not the first thing he'd expected to hear. "You're telling people what?"

Next to him, Arthur's pale complexion had started going pink.

"If Alfred makes just one mistake, people will wonder why we chose an unknown to be king when we have our pick of nobility," Yao said. "And the two of you have been…" Yao darted a look at Arthur. "Arthur is headstrong enough that people will not be surprised if we say that he has chosen a new king out of love instead of advantage."

"Are you serious? I thought everyone knew that this was going to be political," Alfred said.

"Well yes – everyone knows that – but they'll question why we didn't choose someone more suitable," Yao said. "Since our last king had no heir, the only one Arthur can marry is the next king. It is not inconceivable that Arthur would put up a fight to marry a person he loves." He shot another pointed look at Arthur which Arthur and Alfred both ignored.

"I—but—" Arthur mumbled something incoherent, utterly red now as he darted a look over at Alfred.

Alfred shrugged. He wasn't sure if this meant Arthur was happy about it or just plain embarrassed, but it didn't seem like either of them was getting a choice in the matter.

"It is nothing more than rumors in the right ears," Yao said. "Court gossip will take care of the rest. Now hurry – you still need to meet with Lili and discuss strategy now that she and Vash are here," he said to Arthur. "Alfred, come with me. I need to show you some things before the Hearts royalty gets here and the official audience begins."

That was all there was, and Alfred just gave a quick nod before following Yao out the door. Just one more deception to add onto the others, he thought.

* * *

><p>Alfred didn't think much about the faking-in-love thing because the next few hours were spent observing royalty in the wings of the throne room. As soon as Lili and Vash, the Queen and Jack of Diamonds, had arrived, Arthur had been whisked into an emergency meeting with them over battle plans, leaving Yao and Alfred to field the audience as more and more guests arrived.<p>

More accurately, since Alfred was not actually a member of the royalty yet, he did not have to take formal audience with anyone until Yao signaled for him to be introduced as Arthur's fiancé. Instead, Alfred had to stand in the wings of the throne room and watch as Yao received the nobles and royalty who arrived. It did give Alfred a chance to go over the greetings and all the things about the various royalty and nobility that he had memorized so he wouldn't accidentally offend anyone.

The people in the throne room seemed to come in an endless stream.

There were women in colorful dresses and their hair done up with hats and veils, gossiping about the biggest wedding of the decade, and men dressed in traditional uniforms that were styled anywhere from Medieval to Victorian times spanning various different countries in fashion. The costumes seemed to have no particular correspondence with either family or kingdom. Yao was dressed in a vaguely Oriental type of outfit, whereas Francis had shown up in his Louis XIV style French court clothes again sans wig. Lovino and Antonio, on the other hand, both appeared briefly in clothes that looked like they might belong to the Spanish Age of Exploration before they left the throne room for some errand.

The only way Alfred could tell who belonged to which kingdom was due to the color-coding, which was, oddly, the only thing that everyone seemed to adhere to. The Diamonds kingdom was composed of shades of gold anywhere from the gleaming crown that Francis sported, to the creamy peach colored dress that Alfred had seen Lili Zwingli, the petite Queen of Diamonds, wearing right before she disappeared into that meeting with Arthur.

The Clubs kingdom was comprised entirely of greens and an unexpectedly large entourage – the largest out of all the kingdoms so far at nearly seventy members – from the kingdom arrived despite all the rumors that they were incapacitated. The royal couple in this particular kingdom, Elizabeta Hedevary and Roderich Edelstein, were incredibly beautiful and the most aristocratic out of all the other kingdoms. Though they were both friendly, they seemed thin and weary – but given the circumstances, this was hardly a surprise. When they were given an official welcome with Yao, though, it seemed that the King of Clubs was not with them.

The Hearts kingdom wore reds, as was expected. What was more unexpected was that after all the talk of warring kingdoms and Hearts taking everything in its path, none of the royalty looked particularly intimidating. In fact, the only one of the three who was around Alfred's own height was the king, Ludwig Beilschmidt, who seemed to be a rather stuffy and formal sort of guy, exchanging all the proper greetings with the others. Both Kiku Honda, the Queen of Hearts, and Feliciano Vargas, the Jack of Hearts, were small in build. Feliciano, in particular, was incredibly excited and kept talking eagerly about the wedding.

As Alfred stood and watched, he practiced the lines he was supposed to say in his head: _A pleasure to meet you, your majesties. It would be my honor to take guidance from you. I hope that our kingdoms will prosper and be at peace. _That last, an official greeting end, seemed to be incredibly ironic in this case – especially if he was supposed to say it to the Hearts entourage, but Yao had told Alfred that all technicalities aside, everyone was still expected to be just as respectful to Hearts while they were at an unofficial ceasefire for the wedding.

And that was when Alfred noticed it. As he glanced over at the three Hearts royalty, still exchanging polite greetings with Yao, Kiku Honda, the Queen of Hearts caught his attention. Kiku was a small, slim man with poise and natural elegance – so much that Alfred might have mistaken him for a woman if his stance didn't give him away as a man. He wore loose robes in the Japanese style so while the heavy top over robe that he wore hid his sides most of the time, but when he moved his arms, Alfred caught a glimpse of the two short swords sheathed at his waist. That along with his stance and the calm ease with which he moved were entirely too recognizable after Alfred had fought with him – he was that second assassin that had tried to kill Alfred in his bedroom.

Before Alfred could decide what to do about this new information, Yao was looking in his direction and that was his cue.

Alfred took a deep breath and strode over, putting on his best smile for the royals gathered by the thrones.

"This is Alfred F. Jones, our queen's fiancé," Yao said, gesturing to Alfred.

Alfred inclined his head in a short bow the exact way Arthur had helped him practiced and just hoped he could pull off this farce for long enough.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, your majesties," Alfred said. "It would be my honor to take guidance from you."

Surprisingly, it was Ludwig, the King of Hearts, who spoke first as he gave Alfred a short, polite nod in return. Even though Alfred knew that Kiku Honda had tried to kill him at least once if not more that that, Ludwig seemed to bear no resentment towards Alfred at all and neither did Kiku or Feliciano.

"It would be my honor to take guidance from you as well," Ludwig said.

"You're a handsome one, aren't you?" Elizabeta was next to say and she smiled at him after a short glance at Ludwig. "How did you and Arthur meet?"

"Dear," Roderich said, shooting her a look.

"We've been so…busy lately, so I haven't heard," Elizabeta said with a small shrug, but she was still smiling.

"On a tour of the kingdom Arthur was taking," Alfred said. They'd already prepared for these sorts of questions. "I lived in one of the smaller villages and we…fell in love." He added the last bit and when he glanced over at Yao, he gave Alfred a quick nod.

Elizabeta clearly had no problems believing this story. "That is so romantic. It's so rare for royal couples to marry because of love," she gushed. "Even Roderich and I only fell in love after we'd both taken the thrones already. We got married after that, of course. It's been ages since anyone married into a royal position for love."

"Nearly a hundred years now, if I remember," Francis said cheerfully.

"You really love Arthur?" Feliciano, the Jack of Hearts, spoke up though he didn't seem to be so much suspicious of the comment, as just plain surprised. Of course, given Arthur's personality, Feliciano's question was probably justified.

When Alfred turned to him to speak, though, he received the second shock of the day. Feliciano looked incredibly like Lovino. There were a few obvious differences at first glance – where Feliciano's hair was lighter, Lovino's was darker. Lovino was also slightly tanner than Feliciano was, and Alfred was sure that Lovino had probably _never_ smiled as openly happy as the expression Feliciano was wearing now. But still, their faces and features and even heights and builds looked so close to identical it was uncanny.

"Are you and—"

"Ah, a word, Alfred," Francis interrupted Alfred, and gave everyone a smooth bow before pulling him out of the circle of royals to the side.

"What?" Alfred asked, glancing back at Feliciano again. There was no way he wasn't related to Lovino. They even both had Italian accents though Feliciano didn't sound entirely the way Lovino did possibly because he didn't curse nearly so much.

Francis also shot a glance back towards Feliciano who had begun to talk cheerfully with Elizabeta and Roderich now. "I'm sure you've noticed now – Lovino and Feliciano are brothers," Francis said. "They were in a falling out some time ago so it's best not to bring it up in front of either of them."

Feliciano hardly looked like the sort to get into any sort of big fights, but then, he was the Jack of Hearts, after all so he couldn't be entirely powerless. Francis didn't offer any more explanation, but maybe, Alfred thought, it had been something like the way Arthur and his older brothers seemed to hate each other.

Alfred nodded as they went back to rejoin the other royals. As per diplomacy, everyone skirted around the subject of war although Alfred felt a bit nervous any time Kiku Honda moved too close to him. He still had that warning of the Jokers' in mind and he wasn't blind to the fact that there was a constant guard around each of the royals at any particular time. Even though the chitchat was polite and there was the sense of excitement around the wedding, there were certain subjects that were carefully avoided and more than one royal carried a weapon. Alfred was willing to bet that everyone had something dangerous hidden on his or her person even if it wasn't outright visible.

As the morning passed, Alfred made polite conversation with the other members of royalty for the most part. A few times, Alfred was pulled away to make more adjustments to his clothing or for someone to give him some other instruction about something else.

Arthur had come in at some point during all the official welcoming, and after more cold, polite greetings – and Arthur made it much more clear that he wasn't exactly happy that the Hearts entourage was in Spades at all – he would get called away for some other situation that had come up. As it seemed with any sort of big event, things had a tendency to go wrong at the last minute no matter how many careful preparations were made. Flowers that had been ordered went missing, the cooks misheard and accidentally made pecan pastry puffs even though Lili was allergic to nuts.

But even though Arthur was the type who usually dealt with stress by yelling at people, he seemed to be in an oddly good mood despite all the things that kept going wrong. Every time Alfred saw Arthur and met his eyes, no matter how stressed Arthur seemed at the time, a smile would begin and spread across his face until it reached his eyes like he couldn't help himself. It was rare for Arthur to be smiling so unabashedly and genuinely happy, and Alfred found himself thinking Arthur was actually rather cute every time he did that. Even knowing that Arthur planned to kill him after the wedding and knowing that he should be wary of everything Arthur did, Alfred found himself smiling back at Arthur – unable to help himself when Arthur looked so openly, honestly happy.

And combined with the general air of excitement perpetual in the castle, Alfred felt a growing sense of anticipation at the wedding as well even though he wasn't sure he wanted to go through it at all.

"Is everything all right?" Arthur asked when Alfred found him halfway down a hallway, giving instructions to a maidservant.

"Yeah, uh, Yao sent me to find you. We're supposed to go into the dining hall for lunch together," Alfred said.

"Bollocks, I forgot. Marie, take over for me," Arthur cursed and gestured to one of the servants who had been following him. He shoved a stack of papers in her arms. "Take these down to the courtyard and make sure they get that stain out of the blue carpet for tomorrow. It should have been done days ago."

The servant girl nodded and hurried down the stairs as Arthur began walking quickly towards the dining hall, straightening the royal purple suit he was wearing and adjusting the small hat pinned to his hair.

"Hurry up, Alfred. We can't keep the other guests waiting," Arthur said when Alfred didn't walk fast enough for him.

"It's all right. Francis said he wanted to go freshen up and then went off with some girl from Hearts. It'll probably take him awhile," Alfred said though now that he thought about it, she had looked awfully familiar. "I think it was actually that girl from last time. The spy?"

"What? Is he a complete moron? We are—you know what's going on right now, and he goes off with someone from Hearts?" Arthur demanded. "The spy?"

"It's Francis," Alfred said.

"Even then, this is completely inappropriate," Arthur snapped, but came to a stop as they reached the door of the dining hall.

He straightened his clothes one last time and took a deep breath before looking back at Alfred. As annoyed as Arthur seemed to be, a small smile twitched up on his lips as he looked at Alfred. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Alfred blinked as he remembered what he was supposed to do. They had to pretend they were a couple and in love. He nodded and then offered Arthur his arm like Arthur had made him practice all those times when they were going through etiquette.

Arthur looked startled even though he seemed to have been waiting for Alfred to make a move, but then he took Arthur's arm and smiled again at him, wider this time. "Let's go then," he said, and pulled the door open.

The chatter that had been going on inside went quiet as Alfred and Arthur walked into the dining room. The table had already been set, and everyone was seated so for the first time, Alfred actually saw the entire table packed. Yao was seated at one end of the table as usual, and Alfred and Arthur advanced to the other end and sat down. On either side of them were the royals – Diamonds on Arthur's side of the table, and Hearts on Alfred's side of the table. Clubs were seated down by Yao's end, and in between them were the various other nobles who were important enough to dine with the royalty.

Arthur smiled at Alfred again, giving his hand a small squeeze before letting it go.

Although traditionally, it was the king who should be making the opening speeches, because Alfred was still considered Arthur's fiancé to all outsiders, Arthur was the one who stood and made the necessary speeches.

"I welcome you all to Spades for the coronation of my future husband, Alfred F. Jones, and our wedding," Arthur paused to nod at each of the seated guests. "We are honored for your attendance, although there are a few missing people…"

The King of Clubs was missing, of course, although neither Elizabeta nor Roderich had given a reason why. Francis's empty seat on Arthur's side was also quite obvious but everyone at the table seemed to know Francis enough that no one gave it a second glance.

Alfred tuned back in as Arthur finished up the short speech, and it seemed he'd given the signal to eat because everyone dug in. Unlike the first supposedly formal dinner that Alfred had had with Arthur's brothers and the Diamonds entourage, this dinner was actually every bit the formal that Arthur had trained him to act. Servants stood by each one of the guests, ready to refill decanters and serve food at the smallest gesture. Even Arthur's brothers were grudgingly behaved and chatting with other nobles as the meal continued.

"So uh… how are you liking it here?" Alfred asked Ludwig as they ate. He knew he was supposed to be polite though he wasn't sure exactly how friendly he should be to someone Spades would be at war with in the near future, but he figured making small talk would be a good start.

In any case, Ludwig didn't actually appear to be evil or aggressive like he'd sounded from all the war meetings. Instead, he mostly looked a bit caught as he nodded politely. "It is very nice," he said. He had a light German accent and acted like a soldier more than a king.

"Yeah, it's pretty great getting to be king of a place like this," Alfred said and grinned, reaching over to take Arthur's hand. He wasn't sure just what was considered a safe topic of conversation, but he figured going with the personal was a fairly safe bet.

Arthur jolted in his seat, but looked over at Alfred and he was smiling again, slipping his hand into Alfred's and going slightly pink before he went back to talk to Vash.

"You are not king yet," Ludwig said quickly, and turned rather red-faced watching the public display of affection.

"It happens tomorrow. Close enough," Alfred said with a shrug. "Do you have anyone uh… special?" he asked. He knew that Ludwig was still single and there had been no mention of any significant other in his life, but there were rumors about him and his Jack, Feliciano.

Ludwig turned bright red and choked on his drink. "I-I, er, no. Of course not," he said even as his gaze darted one seat over to where Feliciano was sitting and talking happily with Kiku.

Feliciano caught the look and returned it with twice the wattage of his original smile so Alfred though the rumors at least had some sort of truth in them.

Kiku, who was sandwiched between Ludwig and Feliciano looked mostly uncomfortable.

"Ludwig, did you try the pasta? It's really good," Feliciano said and reached right over Kiku and his plate to heap some of his own pasta onto Ludwig's plate.

"Er, thank you," Ludwig said, looking even more awkward as he accepted the food.

"Kiku, you try some too," Feliciano said and put some onto Kiku's plate as well.

"Thank you very much," Kiku said, looking possibly more awkward than Ludwig did.

Feliciano seemed entirely oblivious to any sort of discomfort he might be causing. "Have you seen Arthur's wedding suit?" Feliciano asked Alfred, leaning over Kiku again.

Kiku gave Feliciano a somewhat pained look because Feliciano was completely blocking Kiku's plate of food, but he didn't do anything other than look at the food with some amount of longing.

"No, actually," Alfred said as he thought about it. Although Arthur had been there when Alfred had to get measured and fitted for his clothes, when it was Arthur's turn, he had sent Alfred off to go study or train some more so he had never actually seen Arthur's wedding suit.

"I bet it'll be really pretty. Have you seen the old queen and king outfits? You should see Ludwig's formal king outfit he's going to wear tomorrow," Feliciano continued. "But the wedding ones are the prettiest. Do you like yours?"

"Sure, I guess." Alfred hadn't really thought about that either. In general, he didn't care much about what he wore as long as it didn't actively stink and was comfortable. His wedding suit would consist of a royal blue uniform reminiscent of something a military officer of high rank might wear in a ceremony. As he wasn't officially royalty until the ceremony ended, he wouldn't have to wear the heavy ermine robe that Arthur would be required to wear, and he'd be crowned halfway through the ceremony so he didn't have to worry about balancing that on his head either until then.

"The wedding is going to be so exciting, isn't it?" Feliciano said. "Maybe Arthur won't be as grumpy now that he's married."

Alfred found it slightly odd, as he listened to Feliciano ramble on, that Feliciano was so happy. Either he was a master actor, or Francis and Antonio had kept it a secret that Lovino was also in Spades because Alfred had a hard time believing Feliciano would really be fine if he knew his estranged brother was in the castle.

No matter how bad the fight had been, some sort of a response ought to be there that just wasn't. Even though Arthur hated his own brothers, he got tense and more easily stressed when he knew his brothers were around.

Back home, Alfred had his own brother, Matthew, who had gone to university up in Canada whereas Alfred had ended up in England. It had been several months since Alfred last saw Matthew and while Alfred didn't normally think of Matthew much, they did talk on the phone or over Skype every so often, and they still made an effort to meet for the holidays every year. Of course he and Matthew had their fair share of fighting and arguing, being siblings, but he didn't think he could actually imagine being estranged the way Feliciano and Lovino seemed to be.

Whatever the relationship between Feliciano and Lovino, there should be some sign that Feliciano was aware of Lovino, but instead, Feliciano seemed not to even be aware of his brother's existence in the castle.

"Hey, Feliciano," Alfred said. "You have a brother, right?"

Feliciano paused and went pale, as a sudden hush feel between the three members of the Hearts royalty. The rest of the table carried on eating, but next to Alfred, it felt like there was a block of silence.

"Yes, er…" Ludwig began which was when Francis abruptly walked into the room followed by Seychelles who, instead of looking seduced, seemed mostly annoyed as she rolled her eyes and walked over to join the other servants in the room.

"Voila, I am here," Francis announced himself as he dropped down into the chair by Arthur, and Alfred felt Arthur's grip tighten around his hand.

Arthur glared at Francis. "What on earth do you think you're doing, frog?" he snapped. "You were just fraternizing with a bloody spy."

Thankfully, none of the Hearts royalty seemed to notice their furious whispering because most of the room had resumed eating and talking as soon as they saw it was Francis.

"Seychelles is a lovely young woman," Francis said. "I am certain you have merely misunderstood her intentions. She wishes to move to Diamonds."

"She's stringing you along. She doesn't even like you," Arthur said.

Alfred was inclined to agree if Seychelles had even done that. As both Francis and Seychelles seemed to be neatly dressed though, he wasn't sure Francis had gotten far with her at all.

"Unlike you and your dear fiancé?" Francis asked and shot a very pointed look to where Arthur and Alfred's hands were still joined.

Arthur went red. "What of it?" he said and tightened his grip.

"Nothing, nothing," Francis said and grinned.

The rest of the day passed quickly between the last-minute preparations and all the conversation Alfred had to make as he was introduced to person after person. Alfred had to keep on top of all the etiquette and faces and names he'd memorized, and he considered it quite a feat that he didn't mess up once. By the time dinner passed and Alfred and Arthur were finally allowed to slip away early to rest for the day ahead of them, Alfred was mentally exhausted and he hadn't been able to think much about the Jokers' warning or how to leave Spades at all that day. He still had a little time, he told himself – after all, the wedding wasn't until tomorrow and with a good night's sleep, Alfred's head would be clearer to watch for the danger the Jokers' had warned him about and figure something out about Arthur's plan to assassinate him.

Although Alfred expected Arthur to join him in the king's chambers again, Arthur stopped just inside the antechamber, still guarded permanently by the two guards outside.

"You're not coming in?" Alfred asked when Arthur didn't follow him to the bedroom.

Arthur shook his head. "No, it's the eve of the wedding. We can't stay in the same bed," he said with a small smile.

"Oh, right," Alfred said, somewhat surprised that Arthur had such a sentimental streak when this was a fake wedding and Arthur intended to kill him right after. Then again, Arthur was extremely traditional in some ways. "I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked.

Arthur gave a short nod. "Be careful," he said. "Kiku was probably your second assassin," he said. "I didn't recognize him until he got here—"

"I know. I did too," Alfred interrupted.

Arthur looked surprised. "Oh. You really have improved," he said quietly, touching Alfred's arm. Then he took a deep breath and pushed himself forward, brushing a kiss to Alfred's cheek before stepping back again. He'd turned slightly pink and was smiling again.

"Just be careful," Arthur said. "Good night."

Arthur walked rapidly out the door again as Alfred wondered just what that whole exchange was supposed to be about. It was like Arthur was actually happy about the wedding even though he'd promised Yao he'd kill Alfred.

Alfred shrugged as he changed out of his suit and dove into bed, eager for a last night of sleep before the next day. With warnings from the Jokers, the faces of the other royals, and Arthur's enigmatic smile in mind, he fell into a troubled sleep.

* * *

><p>Alfred woke early the next morning by a pair of servants who burst through his doors and immediately bundled him off into the bath they'd drawn. After that, Alfred got a quick breakfast although he found he didn't have much of an appetite with everything looming over his head. He was still a bit surprised that no assassin had come trying to attack him in the night – especially as Kiku was already in the building – and nothing had struck him dead in the night either the way the Jokers had seemed to implied.<p>

Of course there was still an entire day to go.

After that, Alfred got dressed with the help of several servants who made even more last minute adjustments to his suit and helped him brush his hair back and straighten everything to perfection. Then Alfred was sent to the library to wait and practice his vows until it was time for the ceremony to begin.

Although Alfred hadn't expected himself to be nervous because after all, this was a sham of a wedding – with the excitement filling the castle and getting congratulated by everyone he met, Alfred found himself getting steadily more anxious as the time passed. It got progressively worse when he was left alone in the library to wait. Even though the wedding and coronation didn't mean much to Alfred personally, and at this point, he wasn't sure that a good performance would even matter now that he knew Arthur and Yao's plan – he still didn't want to mess things up with so many eyes on him.

His hands sweated as he read the paper with the vows written on it over and over again until the words blurred. He could hear servants and guests alike outside the room, and although he heard Arthur's name being mentioned many times over, he wasn't allowed to see Arthur until the actual wedding, so he could only assume Arthur was elsewhere getting ready.

At around noon, a servant brought Alfred a small lunch to tide him over until the wedding dinner, but Alfred was too nervous to eat at all by then so he left the food on the table, untouched. Instead, he muttered his vows out loud to make sure he had them memorized, and paced the room when he was too nervous to sit still. He reminded himself not to lock his knees when he stood before the altar, and told himself to remember not to drop the ring when he was supposed to put it on Arthur.

He found himself wondering if Arthur was as nervous as he was – after all, even though it wasn't a wedding that meant anything to Alfred, he was still getting nervous about it, so even though Arthur planned to kill Alfred after the wedding, from the way Arthur had been acting, it wasn't inconceivable that Arthur might be nervous too. He found himself wondering if Arthur's wedding suit really was as beautiful as Feliciano expected it to be, and how Arthur would act when Alfred saw him at the ceremony.

And then as long as the time waiting had seemed, it was over with too quickly when the knock came on his door.

"It is time," Yao said as Alfred jumped up again, wiping his hands on the trousers of his suit, and swallowing hard.

Yao was dressed in a fancier version of the outfit he'd been wearing yesterday, but now, he also had a small crown on his head.

Alfred followed Yao down the hallway to the closed doors of the throne room. He noticed, for the first time, that a quiet had fallen over the entire castle now that all the guests were inside the throne room, and the hallways were nearly entirely empty except for the last few servants hurrying to prepare for the second part of the ceremony outside.

Yao stopped just outside of the towering double doors of the throne room where two uniformed guards and a group of uniformed soldiers and flower boys and girls were standing. The two guards at the door saluted them, and they both shot grins at Alfred when Alfred wiped his hands one last time on his trousers and then pulled on the white gloves he was supposed to wear. Then they tapped their ornamental spears on the ground once with an echoing clap, and pushed open the double doors.

The throne room had been completely transformed overnight. A long, rich blue carpet had been rolled out, stretching all the way in from the courtyard and down the length of the throne room to the three glittering golden thrones. This carpeted aisle was lined on either side by alternate trumpeters and drummers, and behind them, the entire room was filled with hundreds of people who all stood when the doors opened, like a sea of color and faces.

This part of the ceremony, Alfred had rehearsed several times before, so it was merely a matter of not tripping on his own shoes, and not turning too red with hundreds of people watching him.

As Yao took the first step into the room, the trumpeters and drummers gave the first blast of the fanfare, signaling the beginning of the ceremony.

Yao walked in first, leading the procession as the Jack of Spades. After him, came a set of four soldiers who marched in uniform pace after Yao. Then it was Alfred's turn as he took a deep breath, counted to ten, and then followed them. He kept his walking as paced and stared straight ahead of him at the altar that had been erected up on the platform where the thrones were.

On the platform, an altar had been placed for Yao who would be conducting the ceremony as the Jack of Spades and he made his way slowly up to the altar. The soldiers reached the end of the aisle next, and spread out – two to either side of the steps leading up to the platform.

Alfred reached the foot of the steps a few moments later, and breathed a sigh of relief that he'd gotten through the beginning of the ceremony without horribly embarrassing anyone. Then he turned and waited for the rest of the procession to come in.

Behind Alfred, there were two more sets of soldiers who marched in to fan out on either side of the aisle again. Then came a series of young girls and boys who walked in, scattering fresh blue spade time tree leaves on the ground as they did, all the way up the aisle. They also stepped to either side of the blue carpet, lining up with the soldiers and the musicians, when they reached the end of the procession.

Then the trumpets blew again, announcing the arrival of the queen.

The double doors of the throne room were already open and just past noon, the sun was shining bright outside from the courtyard. Inside the throne room, it was darker, so until someone stepped into the room, it was impossible to see anything more than a faint shadow from the door.

When the fanfare announced Arthur's arrival, Alfred, like everyone else, turned to look at the door. At first, Alfred saw nothing but light shining at the other end of the blue carpet, and then Arthur stepped through into the throne room and for a moment, Alfred couldn't breath. Arthur was wreathed in a delicate glow – the illusion cast by the light outside and the dimmer throne room, like he was some unearthly magical being.

Arthur was beautiful.

His golden hair had been tamed beneath a sparkling crown set with blue and purple gems. Although Arthur normally wore Victorian Era style suits, Feliciano was right and for the wedding, Arthur was wearing an outfit reminiscent of what royal princes in England might wear for a ceremony with rows of golden buttons and a sash across the front. On his shoulders was draped a rich ermine robe with a ridiculously long train, stretching all the way down the aisle that could rival a bridal dress. His face, normally so pale, was tinted with a rosy blush though it might have just been that Arthur was as nervous as Alfred felt.

Arthur was holding a velvet pillow with a crown and scepter placed on it, and his green eyes looked somehow more vibrant than they normally did when he had that small, happy smile on his face – the only thing about him that didn't look so regal and elegant. He met Alfred's eyes from the moment he entered into the room, and as Arthur walked down the aisle, Alfred found he couldn't tear his gaze away from Arthur.

This wasn't at all how Alfred had imagined his wedding would go.

He'd never really thought about getting married specifically, but in a general sort of way, he'd always sort of assumed that someday, he'd find the right girl and settle down and have a bunch of kids and possibly a dog. He'd never imagined he'd be marrying a man instead of a cute girl in a pretty white dress, but Alfred found he couldn't imagine any woman looking more beautiful than Arthur did right now. If the circumstances had been different, Alfred might even think himself lucky.

Arthur stopped when he reached the platform steps next to Alfred, and two of the flower girls went and arranged Alfred's ermine robe behind him so it wouldn't be wrinkled where it dragged halfway down the aisle.

When Alfred looked over at Arthur, Arthur smiled at him, and Alfred smiled back automatically, still feeling a bit like he was being hit with an anvil every time he looked at Arthur.

Yao gestured for the audience to sit, and then Yao began to speak, opening up the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of our Queen of Spades, Arthur Kirkland, and his husband, Alfred F. Jones. We are also here to witness the crowning of Alfred F. Jones, as our new King of Spades," Yao said, reciting word for word the speeches he was supposed to make.

As he listened to Yao begin to talk about the importance of marriage and of vows to the state and so on, Alfred slowly began to relax. He could get through this, Alfred thought. There were more vows to make, and then he'd be crowned, and then they'd go out to the spade time tree for the exchanging of rings and pick the spade time clock. He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there, side-by-side with Arthur, when Yao finally motioned for them to both kneel on the carpet-lined stairs.

Alfred knelt first, and after Arthur stepped up to place the crown and scepter on the short altar in front of Yao, he also knelt beside Alfred, considerably more slowly so as not to disturb the train of his robe.

After a few more words from Yao, he gave a short nod to Alfred as the signal to begin his vows to the state and to Arthur.

"I, Alfred F. Jones, am here today to become husband to you, Arthur Kirkland," Alfred recited. He turned to look at Arthur, and was nearly startled out of his rote memorization when he saw that Arthur's eyes were wet with unshed tears. Alfred had to suppress his automatic urge to reach over and wipe them away even though he knew what Arthur had planned for him and this was not the time for it.

Alfred swallowed hard and forced himself to continue. "I vow to love you and care for you in life and in sickness, to stay with you until death do us apart."

He darted another nervous glance over at Arthur, but Arthur seemed to have gotten himself under control again and smiled at Alfred, giving him a short nod and motioning for him to go on. "I, Alfred F. Jones, am here today to become the King of Spades. I vow to protect this land and to live and die for it. I bind myself to this kingdom and I will rule it fair and just in the keeping of the three inalienable rights of each man – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I vow all this before the kingdom, the people, and the land."

Somehow, Alfred managed to get through the entire vow without messing up or jumbling his words, and then it was Arthur's turn as he spoke up in a clear voice.

"I, Arthur Kirkland, am here today to become husband to you, Alfred F. Jones," Arthur said, steady and calm with assurance. When Alfred darted a glance back at him, he saw that Arthur was looking straight ahead of him as he spoke but his face was red. "I vow to love you and care for you in life and in sickness, to stay with you until death do us apart."

Alfred let out a shuddering sort of breath as he realized that so far, nothing had gone wrong in the ceremony. Despite the Jokers' warning to him, he hadn't dropped dead after saying those vows, and in fact, nothing happened except that Arthur continued in his vows, renewing them for the state.

"I vow to continue upholding all the laws of the kingdom, to keep it in safety and prosperity, and to guide and support my king in his reign," Arthur said, and then glanced over at Alfred. "I vow this all before my kingdom, my people, and my land. To my king do I swear my allegiance."

Yao gave a short nod, and then Arthur got back to his feet again to pick up the crown set on the blue pillow.

"Alfred F. Jones, do you so swear to keep the laws of this country, and to rule it fair and just?" Yao asked.

"I do," Alfred answered.

"Then by the power vested in me as the Jack of Spades, I give you the royal crown of your kingship, as the new King of Spades," Yao said.

As he did, Arthur stepped forward, and gently placed the heavy golden crown on Alfred's head where he felt the weight settle in.

Then, Arthur picked up the scepter and Yao recited the next part.

"I give to you also, the royal scepter in symbol of your power, as the new King of Spades," Yao said.

Arthur gently tapped Alfred on either shoulder with the scepter, before giving it to him.

"Rise, Alfred F. Jones, King of Spades," Yao said.

And that was the signal for the clapping to begin as the audience went thunderous, and Alfred got back to his feet, holding the scepter and wearing the crown, as he turned to face the people.

Alfred felt a bit dizzy with how smoothly the actual ceremony had gone. There were no interruptions, and the sea of faces that met him – the other royals standing up front, the nobility after them, and the rows and rows of people – both the soldiers and the rest of the Spades entourage of musicians and flower boys and girls – everyone was clapping for him and Arthur.

Arthur touched Alfred's arm, signaling him to end the first part of the ceremony.

So Alfred beamed at everyone present, hoping that he exuded as much confidence as was expected of a king, and then offered his arm to Arthur who took it.

The fanfare began again, nearly drowned out by the clapping, and Alfred walked Arthur down the aisle and out of the throne room.

This time, they were leading the procession that made its way outside and down the length of the sunny courtyard, where the long blue carpet had been spread out all the way down to the tree. They had to walk slowly – partially for effect, but also so Alfred's crown wouldn't fall off, and Arthur's train wouldn't get tangled up as it had to be lifted up and adjusted every so often.

While they were inside conducting the first part of the ceremony, uniformed guards had lined up along each side of the blue carpeting, and as they passed each pair of guards, they saluted at them and stayed that way. It was quite an effect, and as Alfred passed the guards he'd made friends with saluting him, and with Arthur on his arm, beautiful and regal, he found himself feeling relieved and smiling. The ceremony had gone without a hitch, Alfred was still alive, and he was getting married to the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. Maybe things would be all right, Alfred found himself thinking.

When they finally got to the spade time tree, the procession stopped again, and there was nothing for Alfred and Arthur to do but wait as the rest of the guests all filed out into the courtyard for the last part of the ceremony.

Arthur hadn't stopped smiling since they'd exchanged their vows and now he slipped his hand into Alfred's, and although they were both wearing gloves, he could feel the warmth of Arthur's hand through the fabric. Even knowing Arthur's plans for him, it seemed very far away at the moment, and Alfred found himself smiling back at Arthur as they waited for the rest of the procession and audience to file out to the courtyard.

Alfred could smell the fresh scent of the spade time tree above them, feeling the warm breeze and the speckled sunlight on his skin through the blue tinged foliage above him. Music was being played by the drummers and trumpeters who followed them down the carpet and then stood to either side to continue playing the cheerful march. It was too noisy to say anything to Arthur, and even if he could, Alfred wasn't sure what to say to Arthur. Instead, he stood holding Arthur's hand and just looking at him as the rest of the guests filed out.

When everyone had finally reached the courtyard – and it seemed like there were even more people than there had been in the throne room – Yao walked up to them, this time with a pair of rings to begin the finally part of the ceremony.

Arthur turned toward Alfred, taking both his hands now, as they faced each other, standing in the shade of the spade time tree to make their final vows.

"Now as we conclude the ceremony, I ask you, Alfred F. Jones – do you take Arthur Kirkland to be your lawfully wedded husband, your queen, and your partner?" Yao asked.

"I do," Alfred said. He took Arthur's left hand and slid the glove off. He picked up the ring that Yao gave him – nothing more than a simple band – and then slowly slid it onto Arthur's ring finger until it was fit snugly in place.

Yao gave a short nod before turning to Arthur. "And do you, Arthur Kirkland, take Alfred F. Jones to be your lawfully wedded husband, your king, and your partner?" Yao asked.

"I do," Arthur said. And then it was his turn to take off one of Alfred's gloves and do the same, pushing the ring onto Alfred's finger. Under the veneer of poise, Arthur's hands were also sweating and a bit shaky, and Alfred found it oddly appealing that even though Arthur should have been through dozens of ceremonies similar to this, he was still as nervous as Alfred was for this wedding.

When both rings had been fit on, it was time for the last bit of the ceremony that, under normal circumstances, would finally seal the deal and declare irrevocably, that Alfred was king when the spade time clock was picked.

But as Alfred went to the tree and reached up to pick the closest spade time clock, a shout suddenly rang through the courtyard.

"Wait!"

Alfred startled and turned, withdrawing his hand.

It was Ludwig who had interrupted him. He was standing right at the front of the procession, close to the tree, and looking straight at Alfred.

"I am sorry," Ludwig said to Alfred. And then he raised his hand and motioned it downwards.

It was like a red current of movement as every single Hearts guest in that courtyard stepped forward and unsheathed a weapon of some sort. During the procession, no one had been paying much attention to how anyone was positioned, but now Alfred saw that every single guest from Hearts was standing right by the blue carpet where they immediately surrounded the musicians and soldiers, hemming them in to the carpet. Ludwig himself did not bother unsheathing the sword he had strapped to his side, but Kiku had taken out his twin short knives, and even Feliciano had a short spear that Alfred hadn't noticed at the beginning of the ceremony, but that he must have picked up while everyone was on their way to the courtyard and distracted.

Alone, the Hearts entourage was only twenty or so people which wouldn't have been a problem, but at Ludwig's signal, the other group of people who had all stepped forward and unsheathed their weapons, was the entire Clubs entourage that had, during the move outside, fanned out to surround every entrance into and out of the courtyard except for the garden entrance which was right by the spade time tree so no one was allowed there except for Arthur, Alfred, and Yao.

"What is the meaning of this?" Arthur was the first to say as he looked around the suddenly surrounded courtyard.

All seventy some members of the Clubs entourage had drawn their weapons, and between the Clubs and the Hearts, they numbered about a hundred armed fighters which was enough to put Diamonds and Spades at serious disadvantage – especially because Spades had nothing but useless, ceremonial weaponry.

It had been impossible to take away the weapons from the other kingdoms when the ceremony required Spades entourage to carry ornamental swords – not without offending the other kingdoms. Now though, Alfred was thinking that Arthur and Yao should have come up with some way around it, because no one from Spades had anything but the flimsy ceremonial weaponry that wouldn't be able to stand up to anything solid. And although they were in Spades and Spades had more soldiers here than Hearts and Clubs had brought, the courtyard hadn't been large enough to fit in more people aside from the foreign guests, and those who were needed for the actual ceremony. It meant that while they were surrounded and unable to leave the courtyard, Clubs and Hearts together just barely outnumbered Spades and Diamonds.

"This is an official request for surrender," Ludwig said. "We require that Diamonds and Spades immediately step down."

"You're out of your bloody mind," Arthur said, taking a step forward, but he couldn't move well when he had that long ermine robe dragging behind him. "And Elizabeta, Roderich – what the fucking hell are you doing?" he demanded.

"We've decided to ally with Hearts," Roderich said calmly. Both he and Elizabeta had stepped forward next to Ludwig and drawn their weapons as well. It was clear that this had all been planned right from the moment the two kingdoms had walked through the gates of Spades. Judging by the looks on Arthur and Yao's faces, this was not something they had thought to prepare for at all and now they had to pay the price.

"What? But what about our alliance?" Francis asked. "You are already allied with Diamonds."

"And we have deemed it unprofitable," Roderich said. "Hearts… made us an offer we could not refuse."

"Step down from the tree," Ludwig said.

"How dare you?" Arthur had clenched his hands into fists and advanced a few more steps. "You dare to disrespect Spades this way? You risk war."

Ludwig didn't back down. "I am prepared for that consequence," Ludwig said. "You are outnumbered and you have no chance of winning."

Then abruptly a commotion broke out at the far end of the courtyard as first, Natalya, the first assassin who had gone to kill Alfred, appeared next to another woman from Clubs who looked enough alike Natalya that Alfred thought they had to be related. She shot a venomous glare at Alfred, brushing herself off, and accepting a sword from the other woman as she joined the Clubs soldiers grouped at the entrance toward the throne room.

The second thing that happened was when Lovino suddenly appeared from that same entrance and fought his way out to the blue carpet.

Alfred hadn't really paid attention to just who was in the audience, but apparently, Lovino had not been in the crowd, because he was being held back by Antonio who seemed to be losing his grip on Lovino bit by bit. And it showed just how much Lovino was fighting to get free because he was a much weaker than Antonio was.

"Feli!" Lovino shouted when he finally got to the blue carpet, only to get dragged back a couple of steps by Antonio.

From their end of the courtyard, Alfred watched as Feliciano turned at Lovino's voice. His eyes widened as he gave a sudden cry and dropped his spear.

"Lovi!" Feliciano shouted, shaking off Ludwig's arm when Ludwig tried to catch him.

"Be careful!" Ludwig said even as Feliciano burst through the double wall of Hearts and Spade soldiers to the blue carpet and ran down the clear pathway for his brother.

"Let me the fuck go, Antonio!" Lovino shouted, and it must have done something to Antonio because Antonio abruptly looked pained and let go of Lovino.

Lovino ran forward the last few yards just before Feliciano reached him, and then the two brothers caught each other in a tight embrace.

"Fratello, I missed you," Feliciano was crying as he held onto Lovino, and as rough and foul-mouthed as Lovino usually was, Alfred could see that even Lovino was teary-eyed as the two brothers embraced. "We couldn't find you anywhere when you went missing, until Ludwig finally found out that Francis kidnapped you—"

"It was the fucking tomato bastard, but the Frenchie helped," Lovino corrected him, but seemed in no hurry to let go of his brother either.

"What the fucking hell did you do?" Arthur asked, letting his ermine robe fall to the ground so he could stride forward to grab, not Ludwig, but Francis by the collar of his shirt.

"Nothing I am ashamed of," Francis said, sniffing, though he was a bit red. "I only helped Antonio when he fell in love with a stubborn Italian. And as you see, Lovino very much loves him back."

"You fucking started an entire war because Antonio couldn't keep it in his trousers," Arthur shouted, shaking Francis hard by the collar.

None of the other members of the royalty, or any of their soldiers moved as they watched the scene unfold. When Alfred looked over at Elizabeta and Roderich, they seemed tired and wary, keeping an eye on Ludwig even though they were also watching the two Vargas brothers reunite. Ludwig had a small smile on his face, a look of fondness and some sadness too, when he walked over to the pair of brothers and put a hand on Feliciano's shoulder.

Feliciano immediately broke into fresh tears and tried to hug both Lovino and Ludwig at once, mostly with the effect of making Ludwig go red and Lovino curse up a storm, but neither of them tried to escape him. Instead, Ludwig patted Feliciano on the head. "See?" he said, gentler than Alfred had heard him sound up until now. "I told you I would get him back for you."

Alfred wondered for a moment, if this would be enough to stop the war, although he was still having a hard time understanding the whole situation. It seemed a little unbelievable that an entire war had been begun because of one kidnapping – especially when Lovino hadn't seemed unhappy with Antonio when Alfred saw them together.

A moment later though, Ludwig extracted himself from the embrace and straightened up again. "We ask again that you surrender now," he said.

This time, it was Yao who shook his head as he stepped forward although he had been quiet up until now.

"Is this not enough now?" Yao said, incredibly calm for the situation. "If you came for the Vargas prince, you have him back now. Return now and we will not declare war."

Ludwig shook his head as he looked up at the spade time tree. "It is too late," he said. "Some things are not as they should be, and some mistakes cannot be undone so easily. Surrender."

"We refuse," Yao said and then shot Alfred and Arthur a look. "Leave this place. Now!" he shouted, which was all the warning Alfred got before Arthur grabbed his hand and pulled him into a run.

Alfred's crown immediately fell off, and when he looked back, a huge, glimmering blue circle was floating up in the air like a giant shield, extending from Yao's hand, and he realized this was magic.

"Hurry, we have to get out of here," Arthur said as they reached the garden gates. "His shield can only hold them back for so long." Arthur pulled Arthur through the gates and into the quiet gardens where Alfred had studied so many times. Now the tranquility seemed out of place as they ran, dodging flowers and trees, the steady pounding of their feet and the dry rustle of grass against their shoes, as the first shouts began back in the courtyard.

"Is Yao going to be all right?" Alfred asked when they reached the small back gate that was surrounded by thorny blue roses.

Arthur shoved his key into the lock and opened the gate, pulling Alfred out of the castle walls with him, before he kicked the gate shut again.

"It won't matter whether or not he is, if we don't leave here now," Arthur said. "He's holding them back so we can stay safe and keep our kingdom safe."

The streets of the walled city were near empty today because most of the citizens were gathered in the main square right outside the front of the castle for the momentous occasion. Alfred and Arthur should have made an appearance on one of the castle balconies after the ceremony was over, but they wouldn't be doing that now.

"We have to get out of here before they can see us. Once we're in the forest, we can stop," Arthur said and picked up the pace, running down the cobblestoned streets.

The first sounds of fighting were beginning to come from the castle now and Alfred also picked up the pace. With his superhuman strength, Alfred could run faster than Arthur, but he kept pace with Arthur as they finally reached the edge of the walled city – getting there in much less time than it normally would have taken because the streets were all empty.

As they left the city and entered the surrounding woods, Arthur immediately picked out a path like he knew exactly where they were heading. Now that they were in the forest, Arthur slowed down – it would be difficult for the Hearts and Clubs soldiers to track them in unfamiliar terrain like this, and stealth was now more important than speed as long as they could keep hidden and progress at a steady pace.

"Where are we going?" Alfred asked.

"Do you remember that castle where we first came here?" Arthur said as he walked quickly along the path.

Alfred's steps faltered as his blood ran cold. The wedding really had meant nothing after all. No matter how happy Arthur had seemed, how beautiful and radiant he looked, it had all been an act or some figment of Alfred's own hope. So this was it, he thought. The plan was coming into play just as Yao and Arthur had plotted. "Yes," he answered.

"Yao has another enchantment prepared for us," Arthur said. "In case such a thing happened." He didn't seem to notice Alfred's hesitation.

It was a lie, Alfred knew, but this was the opportunity he had been waiting for as well. Alfred needed to get home, and this was the only way to do it.

"It's not the same enchantment as the one I was under – that only works once," Arthur said. "But this one will bring us to your world again."

"I get to go home?" Alfred said.

"Yes, we'll be safe there until we can figure out what to do," Arthur said. "For now, the important thing is to stay out of Ludwig's reach – as long as we two are safe, the protection of the kingdom—"

"—will also be safe. I remember," Alfred said.

Arthur turned and gave him a short nod as they walked through the forest. The trip to the ruins of the castle seemed to go much faster this time – possibly because they were traveling more quickly, and possibly it just seemed that way because Alfred was on the watch for the enemy soldiers who would most likely kill him if they caught him.

Soon enough, the rubble remains of the castle loomed up in the field before them, and they climbed up the last of the hill to the crumbled stones.

"What now?" Alfred asked as they stood in front of the castle remains. He felt nervous but strangely not as nervous as he had for the wedding, but this time, he knew what was coming. If this was the way Arthur was going to play it, then Alfred would go along with it. All he had to do, now that they were here, was to figure out how to activate the enchantment, and somehow keep Arthur from following him back to his world. If all else failed, once he got the information, he could knock Arthur unconscious – Arthur would be no match for him if Alfred took him by surprise – and go home by himself.

Arthur was disheveled and his brand new wedding suit was crooked and wrinkled now though he still looked beautiful. Sometime during the chaos, he'd also lost his crown, and now he turned to Alfred. "The enchantment circle should be approximately the same place the first one was," he said. "It makes it easier to bring you back to where you came from."

Alfred gave a short nod, but since the castle was crumbled now and they had been on an upper floor of the castle, the closest they could get was to simply climb on top of the rubble and look for an approximate location. They found a pale outline in blue chalk on top of one larger piece of rubble. The enchantment circle looked somewhat like the one Yao had used as a shield back in the courtyard, but much less impressive as it was nothing more than an outline on the stone.

It reminded Alfred of the fighting that must be going on back at the castle. Although Spades and Diamonds had enough people, Clubs and Hearts outnumbered them and had the better, more prepared soldiers. Even though this had been his plan to leave all along, he didn't feel right about abandoning all those people back at the castle – especially not now that he'd made friends with many of them.

"We should go back," Alfred said, unable to quell his conscience even though he knew that going back meant almost certain death for him.

"This is the best thing we can do for Spades right now," Arthur said but he also looked pained. "As long as we are safe, Spades will also be."

Alfred took a deep breath and let it out again, reminding himself that he owed nothing to these people, and that in Spades, there was no one he could trust. Arthur had brought him here to kill him. It wasn't wrong of him to leave, even if it felt like it. "You're right. I know," he said. "What do we have to do?"

"We both have to step in the circle, and a k-kiss activates the spell," Arthur said, going red. "It's not my idea, Yao had to base it off the first enchantment to get us back to your world so it has to be a kiss!" he snapped.

Of course. Alfred felt like laughing. Once he finally made up his mind to escape from Spades and abandon an entire kingdom, the enchantment would make it impossible to escape Arthur. It seemed his fate had been sealed from the moment he laid eyes on Arthur in that tower.

"You're sure this will work?" Alfred said.

"It should," Arthur said. "I mean, that is, Yao is one of the best enchanters in the kingdom. Although this spell hasn't been actually used before…"

"What happens if the spell fails?" Alfred asked.

"Most likely we'd fall into enchanted sleep forever," Arthur said. "If—if you really don't want to…" he trailed off.

That wasn't a choice anymore at this point. Alfred could either risk going back to his own world or die staying here when the Hearts soldiers found him. If they went back, either Arthur would attempt to kill him there, or they'd sleep forever enchanted. No matter what happened, things would not end happily. "What did it feel like when you were sleeping for so long?" Alfred asked.

Arthur looked up at him. "There were … a lot of dreams," he said. "I never—"

"All right then," Alfred said. He could hear sounds coming for the forest now – voices and footsteps most likely of the soldiers who had been sent to find them. He'd put it off for long enough, and now, either he'd wake and Arthur would kill him, or they would sleep forever.

Alfred stepped into the circle. As soon as he did, the chalk outlines began to glow and the entire shape rose up out of the rock like a laser show, sending little jolts of static electricity down his skin where it touched him.

Arthur also stepped into the circle after Alfred and they stood for a moment, still, facing each other.

"Alfred," Arthur said, reaching across the circle for him, and since this was certain death for him at this point, Alfred let him, wrapping his arms around Arthur. He indulged, for just a moment, what it was like to hold his queen and husband, and in spite of everything – their enchanted marriage, the war and politics, Arthur's intentions of killing him – it felt good. "If this spell fails, I just want you to know, I don't mind sleeping forever if it's with you," Arthur said quietly, and Alfred wondered if Arthur was being honest, and decided that for this last time, he would believe Arthur.

Alfred brushed his hand over Arthur's cheek, the smooth metal band of the wedding ring glinting blue in the light of the magic circle floating around them, and then he leaned forward and kissed Arthur.

* * *

><p>When Alfred woke up again, his heart was beating fast like he'd just woken from a bad dream and he froze for a moment, just laying still. He was lying on something cold and hard, and when he opened his eyes, he could see stone walls all around him. He was in a castle – <em>the<em> castle. The same castle that had crumbled into rubble a month ago when he and Arthur had been transported to Spades after he broke Arthur's enchantment.

Alfred jolted upright and was surprised to find a sudden coolness at his side because something warm had been lying to his left – Arthur. Arthur was next to him on the stone bed, still wearing his royal wedding uniform, but his eyes were shut and his breathing was even. He was asleep – exactly the way Alfred remembered seeing him there for the very first time.

Alfred swallowed hard as he got to his feet, careful not to disturb Arthur as he looked around the room. It was exactly as he remembered it with its slotted windows and high, sloped ceiling. Was he really in the right place then?

Alfred ran out of the room and down the corridors and stairs. He was still on the second floor when he heard the sound of voices, and followed them to the dusty remains of an old room that oversaw the courtyard. There, looking out of a crooked window, Alfred could see his entire archaeology graduate class standing in the courtyard of the castle and walking towards the exit as their professor was saying something to them.

Even though Alfred had found Arthur early in the morning that day that now seemed so long ago, it seemed that a few hours had passed since then and it was now late afternoon judging by the orange sunlight that came through the open ceiling of the courtyard and windows.

Alfred looked down at the courtyard and ran a hand through his hair, letting out a shaky breath as he hurried back to the room where Arthur still lay sleeping and undisturbed. This was it then. He was really back home and the entire world of Cards, and his kingdom, Spades – it was all over now.

He reached to wake Arthur up, and then stopped just before his hand touched Arthur's shoulder. Now that they were in his world, Arthur's job was now to kill him just as Yao had ordered.

Arthur lay with his breathing even, and his face smooth and peaceful in sleep. He really was beautiful, Alfred thought. He'd thought so ever since he'd seen Arthur that very first time when he was just ten years old and hadn't even known it yet.

Even though Arthur had ever intention of killing Alfred when he woke, and Arthur was vulnerable now – asleep and defenseless – Alfred had no intention of killing Arthur even if it would eliminate that particular threat. He could never knowingly kill someone – especially not Arthur who Alfred knew did not want to kill him, but was doing it for the protection of his kingdom and people. Put in the same place, Alfred wasn't sure he wouldn't make the same choice.

And although Alfred had been prepared for death when he kissed Arthur to activate the enchantment, he was being given another chance now to escape. There was only one choice for him if he didn't want to die.

Alfred looked down at Arthur one last time, memorizing the features of the man who had changed his life forever. Arthur's high cheekbones, his thick eyebrows, his straight nose, his full mouth. The messiness of his golden hair, the slim length of his neck. His thin hands clasped together on his chest, and the golden wedding band on his finger.

Alfred exhaled, and then turned and left the room.

He walked down the corridors, and then stairs, moving faster and faster as he realized he was really, finally home. And then he sprinted the last stairway down into the courtyard, and burst out of the castle and into the fresh air of England. His class was standing around the van at the parking lot, getting ready to load up, and the professor and tour guide stopped talking when Alfred ran into the gathering, grinning and then beaming at the people he hadn't seen in a month.

"Well, Mr. Jones, nice outfit," Professor Germania said, raising an eyebrow.

Everyone turned to look at Alfred.

Alfred looked down at himself and found that he was also wearing the same wedding suit as he had in Spades.

"Uh… yeah. Surprise?" Alfred said weakly and grinned, getting a few snickers from his classmates. He didn't think anyone would believe him if he tried explaining what had happened to him and he wasn't sure he wanted to try.

Professor Germania just shook his head. "The jokes of young people," he said. "Well, let's be on our way then."

Alfred got into the van last, playing off his unusual outfit as a joke when his classmates asked him about it. He was just glad to be home and he wanted to forget about Spades as soon as possible. As Professor Germania began driving them home, Alfred looked out of the window to watch the old castle disappearing further and further away in the distance until finally, they turned a hill and it disappeared from view altogether.

Alfred didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until he finally let it all out. Things were going back to normal now. Arthur would never be able to find him in a place as big as this and he'd eventually have to go back to Spades alone without Alfred. That was, if Arthur woke up at all, because there was no guarantee.

Alfred took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat.

Goodbye, Arthur, he thought.

* * *

><p>So everyone who had hunches about what was going to happen this chapter – accurate or not? :D<p>

**Also, this fic has gotten more art from Chinese translation readers, AlSnPb and ****黑夜雲****! They have both drawn gorgeous fanarts (AlSnPb actually drew four of them asdf;lkj) and the links are up in my profile! **(Or I'll put up 黑夜雲's as soon as I get your contact info so I can credit you!) I don't know if either of you see this note at all, but if you do, thank you so much! (And thank you Shouquan for translating the fic! Haha I know you're reading this :D You translate so fast I panic to keep up writing with you lolol.)

**BTW I also drew an art kind of supposedly for this fic** but not really because I got lazy. (Of course I turn out to be the laziest artist even for my own fic …) But if you're wondering just what a spade time tree looks like, you can check out my profile links and see the laziest impression of it ever :D I'm sort of embarrassed to show this to anyone because everyone who drew art for this fic so far is better than me /sob BUT I MEAN clearly I don't have much shame if I dare to post anything I do online at all. 8D

**Thank you guys all again for reading and for all the input last chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

Alfred groaned, snaking an arm out from beneath his covers to grope blindly for his alarm clock until he smacked the snooze button.

He flopped over onto his back and stretched, yawning as he cracked his eyes open and stared up at his white ceiling. That's right. He was home.

Alfred scrambled up and looked around the room. Everything was exactly as he'd left it. His dirty laundry was still in scattered on the floor, a sweatshirt hung off one of his bedposts, an NFL poster with a bent corner taped on his wall. There were his piles of books and research papers and laptop all on his desk, and his half-drunk coffee mug was still by his bed. The only thing out of place in the room was the pile of clothes on the floor by a small statuette of the Statue of Liberty – his wedding suit that he'd changed out of as soon as he got home.

Alfred slowly climbed out of bed and picked up the suit coat, turning it over in his hands. It was made of a fine material that probably cost more than the rest of Alfred's wardrobe combined, a bit rumpled and dirty now from the run in the woods but it still smelled like the strange scent of the spade time tree leaves that had been scattered at his wedding. The wedding he and Arthur had been at just a few hours ago, exchanging vows to make Alfred the King of Spades – and now he was just plain Alfred F. Jones again, foreign American grad student.

Alfred wasn't sure what he should do about these clothes now, but somehow it didn't seem right to leave them lying on the floor like that, so he got a hanger out of the closet and hung up his wedding suit instead. He pushed it to the very far end of his closet, hiding it behind a winter ski coat that Alfred never wore and a few sweatshirts, and then shut the closet door on it all.

"I'm really home," Alfred said, as he looked around his tiny crowded apartment. Outside the bedroom, there was still his half-eaten waffle on a plate from his breakfast the morning he'd first gone to Spades, but it looked no more than a day old. The dishes he'd left in the sink were still there, greasy but not moldy like they should have been in a month-long absence. The video game in his cartridge was still paused halfway through a battle. There was still that drip in his sink that hadn't been fixed yet.

He wasn't just home. He was home one day after he'd gone to Spades instead of over a month. Yao really was right – somehow or other, time traveling had been a part of the bizarre enchantment.

It was just like nothing from Spades had ever happened now and Alfred was back to his normal life, normal friends, normal work. And he was alive.

A huge grin spread across Alfred's face as he realized he'd really actually succeeded.

On the other hand, that meant he had class today.

Alfred groaned and scrubbed his face. Even though time-wise, he hadn't been gone at all, he couldn't remember anything of what they'd been studying a month ago after all the cramming he'd done in Spades, and all he really wanted after so much tension for so long, was to just relax and maybe sleep for a week.

"All right, I'm taking the day off," Alfred said. Compared to what had happened in Spades, he could afford to miss a day of class.

So the first thing Alfred did was hop into the shower for a good scrub. It had always been baths back in Spades and while that was nice, Alfred liked feeling the drumming of water on his skin as it washed away the last of the smell he'd taken back with him from Spades.

After that, he put on the most comfortable pair of sweatpants he had and went to make himself a good greasy breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes, whistling to himself as he cooked which he hadn't done in a month too. Then he realized that modern music now existed again so he put on his iPod to blast from speakers as Alfred sat back to eat his breakfast.

Back in Spades, the food had been all right – well, except for Arthur's food that was god awful – but Alfred definitely missed McDonald's and good American cuisine.

Arthur, Alfred thought. He was still in that castle a couple hours drive away and probably still in enchanted sleep. Alfred remembered both times he'd seen him like that, as still as death, covered in dust from laying there alone and undisturbed for so long.

_I don't mind sleeping forever if it's with you…_

Alfred shook his head. Now that he had finally escaped, there was no way in hell he was going back to wake up Arthur and let Arthur kill him. After all, even if Arthur was asleep for all eternity, at least he wasn't dead which was what Alfred would be if he woke Arthur again.

In any case, Alfred fully intended to relax and go back to normal life. And he could start with video games.

Alfred grinned and plopped down on his sofa, picking up the abandoned PS3 controller and unpausing the game from the night before that he hadn't actually touched for a whole month in Spades.

* * *

><p>After playing video games for a few hours, Alfred finally got off the couch, feeling a bit restless, and got changed so he could go out. He'd never quite appreciated jeans and a T-shirt so much after being dressed in the constricting clothes in Spades.<p>

It felt like a bit of a culture shock after spending so long in Spades to be walking out onto the streets of his little university town. He caught a bus to the nearest McDonald's and then bought four burgers – getting a startled look from the cute cashier girl. Hey, he hadn't had a burger in a month – he could indulge a little.

And as he sat by the window of the joint and looked out at the comfortable, familiar landscape of the concrete jungle – people of all colors and sizes walking around in normal, modern clothing, he felt rather relieved to be home even though so much had happened in Spades. He wondered if everyone was still doing all right there – what had happened with Lovino and Feliciano… the interrupted ceremony. Speaking of which…

As he ate the burger, he felt the warm metal band around his finger – his wedding ring that Arthur had put on for him. Alfred twisted it on his finger with his thumb. He wasn't married anymore. Arthur and Yao had said that the enchantment spell had no power over them in the regular world. He was unattached and probably not going to see Arthur ever again so there was no point in wearing the wedding band anymore unless he wanted to cause misunderstandings.

Alfred frowned and worked the ring off of his finger, but he didn't feel right about just leaving it either – at the very least, it was probably very expensive, Alfred reasoned. So in the end, he put it back on – just so he wouldn't lose it, he told himself.

As he ate, he thought about what had happened. Well, now that his life was going to go back to normal, everything would be fine no matter what _had_ happened. He felt like he'd been away for ages and was relieved to get back all in one piece.

Oddly, the first thing Alfred really wanted to do was talk to Matthew, his own brother. Actually neither of them talked very often despite being quite close as brothers but now that they were both older and studying in different countries, they just didn't see each other much. After seeing the exchange between Lovino and Feliciano, though, Alfred found he actually quite missed Matthew so on a whim, he pulled out his cell phone and speed dialed his twin brother's number.

Matthew didn't answer until the second time Alfred dialed him, and then Alfred was greeted by a groan. "This had better be good, Al…" Matthew mumbled.

"Are you still sleeping?" Alfred asked, taking another bite of his burger.

"Are you stupid? There's a seven hour difference between here and there!" Matthew said, sounding even more annoyed.

"Oh yeah," Alfred said. He'd completely forgotten about that. "Uh, you can go back to sleep."

Matthew let out a sigh. "Well you already woke me up, eh? What is it?"

"Just calling to see how you're doing," Alfred said after a moment. He didn't really have any good reason for calling Matthew other than just wanting to check and see that he was all right.

After his parents' divorce, Matthew and Alfred had also been separated – Alfred going with their father, and Matthew with their mother so that neither brother got to see each other much. Still, they managed to keep in touch with messaging and calls and texting. As soon as they'd gotten old enough to move out, Alfred had more or less ditched the parents he resented although Matthew was more lenient about it. It was mostly on account of Matthew that the two brothers still spent holidays together, and although it seemed that Matthew would still meet either parent on occasion, Alfred never did.

He decided that while he certainly held no affection for their parents, he was definitely going to have to talk to Matthew more.

"What? Is everything okay?" Matthew asked, sounding even more confused.

"Fine. Everything's fine," Alfred said, grinning. "This year for Christmas I'll visit your place, okay? You're back in the States now, right?"

"I've been going to grad school in America for the past year just like you've been in England," Matthew answered, sounding suspicious now. "You're actually volunteering to visit?"

"Yeah. As long as you don't try to trick me into seeing mom and dad," he said. "How're classes going?"

Matthew sighed but allowed the change of subject. "They're good. I just got permission to study the polar bears out at the San Diego Zoo here," he said. "There's a brand new cub called Kumakichi? Kumajirou? Something like that?"

Matthew was a psychology major and in postgrad now, doing something related to polar bear psychology or something strange like that. Alfred nearly always tuned out halfway through Matthew's explanations of exactly what he was doing but Matthew had such a soft-spoken way about him most of the time, that he tended to be ignored more often than not. Of course when Matthew got aggressive, he could rant at Alfred for hours about every single fault Alfred had and every single mistake he had ever made since he was a kid. Alfred half wondered how Matthew would react if Alfred told him about Spades, but then, Matthew was always saying Alfred was unrealistic like the time Alfred had jumped off the roof in a Superman cape in an attempt to fly, or the time Alfred had tried to sell McDonald's hamburgers on their street instead of a lemonade stand and charged a dollar extra, or the time right after the divorce when Alfred had tried to run away from home with Matthew only to have Matthew list out all the reasons they couldn't do that and have to be dragged sullenly back home.

As they talked, Alfred made up his mind to definitely visit his brother more often. He was actually quite lucky to have a brother as nice as Matthew compared to the jerks who were Arthur's older brothers.

After he tuned back into Matthew going on about how cute that polar bear's eyebrows were – really it wasn't that Alfred didn't _try_ to pay attention to Matthew, but Matthew had a habit of zoning into his own world sometimes – he said good night (or morning really) to Matthew and let him go back to sleep. After the call, Alfred felt much more cheerful knowing that Matthew was doing fine.

He finished off the rest of his burgers and then took a leisurely walk back to his apartment where he then spent the rest of the afternoon on the Internet checking his fantasy football stats and then studying all the school material he'd forgotten while he was in Spades.

Oddly, Alfred found it much easier now reading up on all the ancient kings and families, the old civilizations during the Dark Ages and even before that. He thought it might be because of all he had to memorize so quickly during his time in Spades because after those cramming sessions, this was nothing.

He ordered a pizza in for dinner and then decided to turn in early. Then he went to sleep peacefully – for once, not having to fear assassination during the night.

* * *

><p>The next day he went to classes, feeling much better and more himself now that he was really back in his old life.<p>

Spades had actually helped make all this history he was studying seem a little more real although the problem with it was also that Spades was such a bizarre place full of anachronisms that Alfred had to reorient himself every time he started comparing medieval walled cities and fortresses to the Spades capital remembering how oddly some of the rooms were decorated like Arthur's own chambers.

Despite how dangerous Spades had been, Alfred also found himself extremely bored in the monotony of the safe classroom. As bad as it had been, the odd, vibrant world was so much more interesting than reading and discussing things out of research papers and textbooks. He didn't want to go back to Spades, but he found himself wondering what other worlds might be out there then that were filled with magic and intrigue. Of course no one was going to believe him if he tried to tell anyone he wanted funding to discover new worlds, but who knew what was possible now.

"…Alfred?"

Alfred jumped at his name and looked up at Professor Germania who was lecturing at the front of the small classroom. "Huh?"

He got a few snickers for that although Professor Germania just looked put upon and sighed.

"What is the oldest castle in England?" he repeated.

Alfred blinked, tuning back into the discussion. "Uh… I dunno, Richborough Castle?" he guessed randomly, trying to think of an old castle.

Professor Germania just gave him an unimpressed look. "Anyone else?"

"Vindolanda, yes?" Alfred turned to see Ivan Braginsky, the weird Russian exchange student who had raised his hand to answer.

"That's not even a real castle," Alfred said. "That's a Roman fort." He remembered that much at least.

"Indeed, Mr. Jones," Professor Germania said. "In that case, you should remember that Richborough Castle itself was also originally built as a Roman fort."

Alfred grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah…"

"In fact, what you are both confusing is the difference between a castle and a fort," Professor Germania said. "Romans built forts, fortlets, and fortresses but not castles. Castles were introduced into England by the Normans in 1066."

"What about the Saxons?" Rebecca, another one of Alfred's classmates asked.

"They built burghs – not castles," Professor Germania said.

"Wait, but wasn't stuff built before 1066?" Alfred asked, frowning. Now that they were discussing these things again, he was beginning to remember more of the material he'd forgotten in his mad studying of Spades.

Professor Germania smiled. "King Edward the Confessor – a Saxon king – did indeed invite Norman advisors to England before 1066 indeed so yes, castles were built before 1066."

"So this is just a trick question?" Alfred said, groaning.

Professor Germania ignored his comment. "The word 'castle' itself does not appear until 1052 to describe the structures built by the Normans and so anything prior to that cannot be considered a castle simply because the word did not exist."

Which totally meant it was a trick question.

As the lecture continued, Alfred found his mind drifting again and wondering just what Spades was considered then. Of course history probably had nothing on that because clearly the entire Cards world was a huge amalgamation of anachronisms. But that first castle that he'd found Arthur in – he tried to think back to what it was. It had been called Queensburgh Castle – which, now that Alfred thought about it, had an especially ironic name. He wondered if the naming of it had anything to do with Arthur although no one could possibly know that Arthur had been there. That he was still there.

Alfred pointedly turned back to the discussion about old castles. He was not going back to get Arthur.

After class, Alfred didn't particularly want to go home – not when he knew that his wedding suit was in his closet and his wedding ring was on his dresser– so he ended up with a couple of his classmates going out to a club.

Which was why he was now on his second Jack Daniels and sitting at a table with a group of his friends, debating if he wanted to go dance or not.

"Come on, someone come dance with me," Rebecca said above the loud music. She was the only girl in the group who had come and also the only one who had dressed up a bit more in a dress. Alfred found himself looking appreciatively at her like all the other guys in the group, but it was in a rather objective sort of way. "Al?" she asked, grinning at him.

"I'm good," Alfred said, giving her an easy smile back. "You know I suck at dancing," he said. Although in truth, he just didn't want to think about dancing much. He and Arthur had practiced dancing so many times in Spades although they'd never gotten around to the ceremonial first dance of their wedding ball.

"Aw come on, no one will care," Rebecca said, leaning close to him and tugging on his arm. Normally, Alfred wouldn't turn down a cute girl flirting with him when he was unattached, and yet he had no urge at all to go with her. When he thought about dancing, he thought about Arthur and this was not helping him get back to normal or feel any less guilty about leaving Arthur there in that castle.

"I'll pass this time," Alfred said and picked up his drink again with a grin.

"You're no fun," Rebecca said, pouting, but grabbed Walter and Harry – German and English respectively – to pull them to the dance floor with her.

Alfred sipped at his drink, watching as his friends disappeared into the crowd of moving people under the dim lights of the club. It left just him and Ivan sitting at the table they'd claimed.

"You're not going to dance?" Alfred asked Ivan, shouting a little to be heard over the pulsing music of the DJ.

"I am not good at dancing too," Ivan said calmly although he still had that too innocent smile on his face.

Ivan always sort of creeped out Alfred although he wasn't even entirely sure why. It wasn't like Ivan had ever really done anything to him, but something about the man was just unsettling. Usually, Alfred just chalked it down to Ivan being a huge weirdo. He always wore a heavy scarf around his neck which at this time of year, wasn't really the strangest thing ever, but no one wore a scarf in a club which was exactly what Ivan was doing at the moment.

"You are not wearing your suit today," Ivan said.

Alfred blinked. "Uh… what?"

"Your suit. The blue one," Ivan said. Or maybe Ivan just creeped him out because it was like his expression never changed from that odd little smile he always wore.

"That was just a costume," Alfred lied.

"Is that so," Ivan said still with that grin. "Where did you get it?"

"Uh… a costume shop," Alfred said, frowning as Ivan tilted his head although now Ivan's constant stare really was getting irritating.

"Look dude, I'm going to get another drink," Alfred said. "Want anything?"

Ivan shook his head but continued staring at Alfred even as Alfred got up and went to the bar.

He ended up drinking two more glasses there until he got that pleasantly buzzed feeling of warmth and relaxation from the alcohol. He wondered exactly how long it was going to take for him to get used to normal life again. It hadn't taken him all that long to Spades, but he'd been thrown right in and had no choice but to do it or die – literally. Now, he was back at home with nothing to distract him and nothing life-threatening anymore – at least not immediately, and even when Alfred was telling himself not to think about Spades or Arthur or any of that, it was more of a carefully avoiding the subject and not forgetting it at all.

He looked over at the glittering, crowded dance floor. Maybe he ought to go dance and find someone easy to hook up with, he thought vaguely. It seemed a better idea with the next drink he got. After all, he wasn't married to Arthur anymore. He wasn't even going to see Arthur anymore.

So when a cute brunette with a cute, posh British accent came over and asked him to dance, Alfred agreed and followed her out to the dance floor.

Alfred didn't really want to dance but maybe dancing something other than the formal dances Arthur had forced him to learn would make him feel a little more like himself in his normal life again. The girl was quite pretty and small, wearing a slinky blue number and pressing her body against his that felt nice but as Alfred let her grind against him, he found himself thinking back to Arthur and the way he had smelled and turned red when they were practicing the dances. Alfred forced himself to concentrate on the girl in front of him. Everything with Arthur had been a lie. Arthur had intended to kill him – _still_ intended to kill Alfred even if Alfred went back for him.

From the dance floor, Alfred found himself kissing the brunette against a dark corner of the club, the bass thumping under his feet and dim lights swirling, confusing her face even as she ran her hands down his chest and let him press her up against a wall. It felt good – it had been awhile since he'd actually done this sort of thing with anyone. Arthur didn't count – nothing with Arthur had ever been real.

"Want to come back to my place, love?" she asked, letting out a little gasp when Alfred kissed her jaw.

"Yeah, okay," Alfred said, pointedly not thinking about Arthur.

The girl gave him a smile, pulling him by the arm out a back entrance that had more than a few couples there too, and then out into the cool night air, laughing.

She was a pretty girl with shapely bare legs, accentuated with stiletto heels that he hadn't actually noticed in the club. She was actually quite hot, Alfred thought, and young too – probably also a student like he was.

"There's a hotel close to here," she said, her hand, small and soft, moving down his arm to tangle in his own.

Alfred felt her tense up and was confused for a moment until she pulled his hand up under the streetlights and he saw his wedding ring still there and glittering. "Are you married?" she asked, frowning.

Alfred found his hand jolting out of hers. "No, I… sorry, I better go home."

The girl turned and looked at him, considering. "You have a wife waiting for you?" she asked.

No, he didn't. Not waiting for him anyway. But Alfred still found he couldn't go home with her regardless of what sort of relationship he had with Arthur.

"Kind of," Alfred said instead. "Sorry. Really."

The girl let out a long sigh but left without making a big deal out of it.

When Alfred got back to his apartment, he pulled his wedding ring off and stared at it. He didn't owe anything to Arthur. He was never going to see Arthur again. It would be best for him to move on. He swallowed and put the ring on the dresser.

* * *

><p>This was the way life passed for the next week. He went to classes, sometimes went out with his friends, and more or less threw himself into monotonous regular life as much as he could.<p>

The only differences were that he ended up calling Matthew more often than usual which Matthew accepted without question although Alfred sometimes wished he could tell him or anyone else – just one person – everything that had happened in Spades. It was something that would get him immediately branded as crazy though, and Alfred wasn't even sure he _wanted_ to talk about it to anyone – to share what had really happened to him.

So instead, he watched cartoons as usual, played video games in his free time, hung out with his friends, or studied. Nothing seemed to be quite as fun or satisfying as it had been before, but Alfred chalked it all down to culture shock after staying in Spades for so long.

It took him four days to realize he was being jumpy and bored all the time because he was waiting for something to happen. Like things just weren't finished yet because they weren't – there was still the war back in Cards even if it didn't concern him anymore. Arthur was still asleep in the old castle ruins. He felt like something ought to happen – Hearts breaking into this world although it ought to be impossible, someone forcing him to go back to Spades for the war. Anything at all. And yet, normal life for him was peaceful and undisturbed, turning back into mundane normalcy.

He was relieved as much as he was unsatisfied.

The seventh day found Alfred on his couch on a rainy late afternoon, half studying for his classes and half watching the news on television when a knock came on his door.

He frowned and dug between the cushions for his cell phone, but when he checked his inbox, no one had texted to say they were coming over.

The rapping on his door came again and Alfred frowned, wondering if his doorbell had broken. Friends that came usually texted beforehand, and the landlord or one of his fellow tenants usually used the doorbell.

"Coming!" Alfred shouted when the knock came again, climbing over the couch and hoping that it wasn't anyone important because his flat was a mess at the moment.

"Dude, you couldn't have called before coming…" Alfred's words died when he opened the door.

It was Arthur staring back at him in the hallway.

Arthur looked awful. Whereas he'd been so regal and beautiful on their wedding day, he was still wearing the same suit but now it was torn and wrinkled. His trousers and boots were both brown and specked with mud, and the rest of him was just as wet and bedraggled. His hair stuck together in disarrayed clumps, his face was pale and streaked with dirt, and there were dark bags beneath his eyes, his lips cracked and dry. He looked thinner and smaller and Alfred couldn't figure out why Arthur was here – _how_ he was here.

Alfred had left him back at the castle. Even if Arthur had woken up, England was big – much too large for Arthur to be able to find him and certainly not in just seven days.

Arthur swallowed, staring at Alfred. His mouth wobbled and he pressed his lips in a thin, pale line. His eyes were huge and green on his gaunt face.

A million questions and excuses were running through Alfred's mind as he waited for Arthur to speak – tried to figure out what to say to him.

"Wh… why did you leave me?" Arthur was the one who spoke first, breaking the long, terse silence. His voice was quiet, barely more than a dry crackle of a whisper.

Alfred swallowed. "How did you find me?"

Something hardened in Arthur's face, and then he slowly held up his hand. In it, he was holding up his small spade time clock.

The minute hand was pointing straight at Alfred.

* * *

><p>FINALLY a shorter chapter! <strong>TBC.<strong> Haha sorry I forget to put that sometimes, so for those who were worried the last chapter was the last bit, now is about halfway through. This fic is planned for around 15 chapters or so, give or take! (So it's not traumatizingly long but hopefully it'll have a satisfying conclusion and story and everything by the end, but you guys can tell me if that works out when we get there XD)

**Also, ****thanks ****to ****黑夜雲 ****for**** another ****fanart ****(of**** militant ****Queen**** Arthur)**** and**** also ****to**** sushisama ****for ****fanart ****too**** (Spade**** deck**** King**** Alfred)!**** Links ****are ****in**** my ****profile ****again! ****Thank**** you ****so**** much!**

Quick note – Queensburgh Castle mentioned here is not real although there _is_ a real Queensborough Castle (which I'm pretty sure is in Kent somewhere but don't quote me on that).


	9. Chapter 9

A million excuses ran through Alfred's mind as he stared at Arthur standing there, his eyes boring into Alfred's own, inescapable.

"I thought… I thought something happened to you." Arthur was the one who spoke first, his voice barely more than a hoarse whisper. "You… this is your… your house?" Arthur said, his eyes traveling over Alfred's flat that was a mess but clearly lived in.

"_Did_ something happen to you?" Arthur asked. He was pleading and Alfred wished he could lie because the alternative, both of them knew, was much worse. "You had to leave, right? Someone made you leave."

But Alfred knew that even if Arthur managed to convince himself now that what he was saying was true, it couldn't last for long. Arthur would always know – always have suspicions – and Alfred found mostly, he was just tired. He didn't want to lie anymore.

"No," Alfred said.

"No? No what?" Arthur said, desperately. "No, you couldn't stay, right?" His voice grew louder with every word until the question ended in a little gasp. "You didn't—" He swallowed. "You didn't—"

"I left you, Arthur," Alfred said, staring back at Arthur.

Arthur shook his head. "No you didn't," he said slowly. "You wouldn't do that to me."

"I did—"

"You wouldn't! You wouldn't leave me in that bloody fucking castle by myself!" Arthur shouted, still standing in the doorway. He wasn't looking at Alfred anymore. "You wouldn't—you—don't you—don't you care about me?" Arthur's voice ended in a squeak like he was trying to keep from crying.

"I know, Arthur!" Alfred shouted finally, ignoring the way his insides clenched. He forced himself to look at Arthur – to see his expression. "I know about you and Yao – your plan to kill me as soon as we got back to my world. I _know_."

Arthur went pale.

Alfred was breathing hard, fists clenched as he stared back at Arthur in the silence, waiting for him to speak.

"I didn't," Arthur said.

"I heard you, Arthur! I heard _everything_—you think I went to sleep? I followed you every single fucking night since the first!" Alfred said, surprised at how volatile he felt now that he was finally able to confront Arthur. "I knew about your plan from the very beginning!"

"I wouldn't—"

"Stop lying to me!" Alfred shouted and now he felt angry. How dare Arthur try and make him the bad guy in this when Arthur was the one who wanted to kill him right from the start. There _was_ nothing for Alfred to feel guilty about. "I could have killed you when I woke up alone," Alfred said. "I didn't because I'm not a fucking manipulative backstabber like you – you were only going to use me until you could get rid of me—"

"I wasn't—" Arthur choked up and cut himself off. "I wasn't going to—"

"You think I'm going to believe anything you say?" Alfred snapped. "I knew from the beginning, Arthur. Everything I did was to make sure you wouldn't kill me before I could escape—"

"You wouldn't!" Arthur was the one who interrupted this time. "Alfred…"

Alfred looked steadily at him. "I knew, Arthur."

Arthur stopped speaking, looking down at his hands, and Alfred realized he was twisting the wedding band still there on his ring finger, looking muddier than the last time he'd seen it, but instead of taking it off like Alfred expected, Arthur did nothing but keep twisting.

When Arthur looked back at Alfred after a long moment, he wasn't crying, but he looked pale and thin and sad. "I'm leaving," he said, but even then he didn't move immediately – only after a moment when Alfred didn't say anything to stop him. And finally, Arthur went to the still-open door and walked out, shoulders stiff and back straight.

He didn't come back, and Alfred could hear the quiet tap of Arthur's footsteps, mute along the length of the corridor, receding.

Alfred growled, running his hands through his hair. Arthur drove him absolutely _crazy_. Arthur had no right to accuse him of anything when Alfred was the one who had his life at risk. Arthur was the one who had lied to Alfred from the very beginning and yet still expected Alfred to help his kingdom and listen to everything he said. Sure, Arthur sometimes acted cute but that was probably all an act anyway. Their entire marriage was a scam. Alfred had been used from the very beginning. But knowing all that didn't erase that look on Arthur's face when Alfred had told him. And none of it made Alfred feel any less like a tool.

Alfred cursed again and then sprinted after Arthur. He couldn't just _leave_ Arthur here, as frustrating as he was, no matter how much he messed up Alfred's life. He just hoped Arthur hadn't gotten too far yet.

He turned the corner and found Arthur standing by the stairwell with his back turned to Alfred, shoulders hunched and the heels of his hands pressed to his eyes.

Alfred stopped, relieved that Arthur hadn't run off somewhere but then, Arthur didn't exactly have anywhere to go.

"Arthur—"

"What do you want," Arthur bit out.

Alfred sighed. "Come on, let's just go back first."

"Go back _where_—"

"Go back to my place," Alfred said. "You're stuck here now anyway."

At least Arthur could still hear common sense because after a moment he slowly lowered his hands, his eyes red but not wet.

Alfred felt another jolt of guilt at his face, but Arthur followed him back to the apartment without protest. Alfred sighed when he finally had the door shut behind Arthur. He really did look awful – thin and damp, his clothes tattered and dirty.

"What did you do to yourself?" Alfred said just to break the awful silence as he flicked the lights on. The afternoon had darkened to night now and Arthur looked horribly out of place in Alfred's modern flat. He wasn't looking at anything although it was completely different from anything Alfred had ever seen in Spades – only standing by the door.

"I walked seven days to find you," Arthur said after a moment.

Alfred did not like the guilt that came with just that simple statement. "You should go shower and change. You'll catch a cold," he said. "The bathroom's here." He walked down the short hallway to the bathroom and switched on the lights for Arthur.

Finally, Arthur looked at him although it was only a brief glance, and then he was brushing past Alfred into the bathroom. Alfred shut the door behind him.

Shit. He had no idea what was going to happen now.

Alfred looked at his messy living room and went over, absently picking up some of the scattered papers there. What on earth was he supposed to do with Arthur in his flat now? He should have just let Arthur go – get lost in England, hopefully never appear in front of Alfred again…probably because Arthur had starved to death or been beat up and mugged or caught a cold and fucking died cause he didn't know where to get any Tylenol.

Alfred exhaled and straightened up again. Of course he couldn't leave Arthur alone. They'd have to figure something out but he didn't know what. And worse, Alfred felt like he'd just ruined something big that he shouldn't have, but there was no other way, right?

He remembered that Arthur would need clothes so he went to his bedroom and rifled through his closet and dresser for something that might fit Arthur. He had no idea what Arthur's size was, but Alfred only had clothes for himself anyway so in the end, he gave up and grabbed a clean pair of sweats and a T-shirt. Then he found an extra towel for Arthur, but when he went back to the bathroom, he didn't hear the water running.

"Arthur?" he called, knocking on the door.

"What," Arthur said, flat.

Alfred frowned and tried the door. It was unlocked and Arthur was still standing on the bathmat the way Alfred had left him.

"You aren't going to shower… oh," Alfred said as he realized Arthur probably had no idea how to use the tub.

He set the towel and clothes down by the sink.

"Here, you turn this knob for the hot water, and this one for cold," Alfred said, showing Arthur how to adjust the taps. "Do you want a bath or shower?" he asked.

Arthur didn't answer so Alfred sighed and finally just put the plug in the tub for a bath. He rarely ever used the old claw-footed bathtub in the flat since showers were so much faster and more convenient, but Arthur would be used to baths. "Just turn the water off when the tub's full."

"Clothes and towel," he told Arthur, pointing out what he'd left for him.

He showed Arthur how to operate the toilet and sink as well, before he left him alone in the room, still silent. He had no idea if Arthur actually had figured out how to use anything, but after a moment, he heard the toilet flush so he figured Arthur was probably going to be fine alone.

On the other hand, he wondered just how on earth Arthur had managed to come all the way here. He'd walked the whole way – seven days – and who knew where Arthur had slept or gotten his food or water during that time. No wonder he looked so thin.

Alfred went to find what he could feed Arthur. He had some leftover takeout, and Alfred considered running out to get fast food or something for Arthur, but he also didn't want to leave Arthur alone in his apartment. So in the end, he just cooked whatever he had on hand and ended up with breakfast for dinner with sausages, pancakes, and eggs, and waited for Arthur to finish bathing.

Alfred didn't know what to do in the meantime, so he turned on the television again just for some noise, and he began to clean up although he found himself glancing at the bathroom door every so often. At the very least, Arthur was staying here for the night so Alfred tossed all his dirty clothes in the hamper and straightened up his books and papers and magazines. He changed the sheets on his bed and haphazardly made it so Arthur could sleep – he looked like he needed a good night's sleep.

Alfred had just finished quickly vacuuming the floors when the bathroom door opened and Arthur came out, looking a bit better now that he was scrubbed and clean, and also oddly… normal. Although Alfred had never thought he was much bigger than Arthur, apparently there was quite a bit of difference in their builds because Alfred's clothes looked entirely oversized on Arthur. Alfred's T-shirt hung halfway down Arthur's thighs, and his sweats pooled at Arthur's feet although not so much that Arthur had to roll them up yet. He'd definitely lost weight, Alfred thought, his arms much to thin where they were exposed and his entire frame small.

Arthur's hair dripped on the T-shirt and he looked hesitant as he walked out, barefoot.

"Uh, I made you dinner," Alfred said, showing him to the kitchen.

Arthur didn't answer but he did follow Alfred to the small dining table crowded into the kitchen. Alfred pushed the food across to Arthur and watched as Arthur began to eat – slowly and hesitantly at first as though he didn't want to eat at all, but then faster and faster until he was all but inhaling it.

"How long has it been since you last ate?" Alfred asked, frowning as he watched Arthur.

Arthur shrugged.

He was still wearing the wedding band, Alfred saw, unable to keep from staring at Arthur's left hand when he realized it. Why on earth was Arthur still wearing the ring when they were in this world and he'd changed out of everything else from Spades? He knew everything that Alfred knew now, and was clearly upset that Alfred had left him to fend for himself, but he was still wearing it.

"What do you want to drink? I have coke, or uh… water? You don't want coffee at this time of day," Alfred said.

Arthur didn't answer so in the end, Alfred just got him a glass of water. Coke probably wasn't a surprise Arthur wanted to deal with at the moment.

Although in Spades, Arthur tended to pick at his food and Alfred didn't think he'd ever seen Arthur finish everything placed in front of him before – granted, the courses were all huge – but Arthur devoured everything Alfred had put on his plate.

"Want more?" Alfred asked.

Finally, Arthur looked at Alfred and shook his head.

By now, it was already nine at night and Arthur yawned, his eyelids drooping down as though he was having trouble staying awake at all – which, after all that Arthur must have gone through, wasn't a surprise at all. Alfred felt worse.

"You can take the bed," Alfred said, leaving the dishes to show Arthur the bedroom with his single bed. Alfred had already gotten out the sheets and his sleeping bag so he could take the floor.

Arthur immediately reached for the sleeping bag.

"Take the bed," Alfred said.

"I'll be fine," Arthur said – the first words he'd spoken since coming out of the bath.

"Just take the bed," Alfred repeated. He wasn't going to have Arthur sleeping on the ground again even though it was probably what Arthur had been doing all these past few nights and at this time of year in autumn, it was certainly cold enough that he couldn't possibly have been comfortable in just his wedding suit.

"I don't need the bed," Arthur said.

"And I'm telling you to take it anyway." Anyone with eyes could see that Arthur was the one who needed the bed.

"I don't need the bed!" Arthur snapped finally. "How do you think I got along the last week?"

"Just take the fucking bed!"

"I'm fine on the floor!" Arthur said.

"Yeah, well I _want_ the floor to watch in case you try to stab me while I sleep!" Alfred shouted.

Arthur looked like he'd just been slapped and turned away again.

Alfred exhaled. That was not the way he'd wanted to win the argument. "I didn't mean—"

"Just leave me alone," Arthur said, getting onto the bed and pulling the covers over his head, a clear sign the conversation was over.

Alfred sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the lump on his bed, but he didn't have anything to say. Finally, he just turned the lights out and went back to the kitchen to clean up.

He washed all the dishes and went back to the living room to finish up his studying. Alfred had just been sitting for just a moment though, when he heard a small noise coming from the open doorway of his bedroom. He went to check on Arthur but he was still buried in a lump on Alfred's bed. There was hardly any movement at all from mound of blankets, so it took Alfred a moment to realize the sound was a badly muffled crying.

Alfred closed his eyes, standing there at the doorway to the darkened room. What was he supposed to say to Arthur? He was sorry? He wasn't, even though he wasn't sure Arthur really had intended to kill him. Alfred didn't know what to do. All he knew was that he wanted Arthur to stop.

Alfred shook his head and walked into the room. "Arthur?" he said.

The muffled sounds stopped immediately, but Alfred went and sat down at the edge of the bed anyway, leaning over and touching what he thought was Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur sat up, wiping at his face but he had definitely just been crying. "What," he snapped although it wasn't very convincing when his eyes were still swollen and teary.

Alfred had no idea what to say to make this better. "Let's just… stop this," he blurted out finally.

"Stop what?" Arthur's voice cracked again.

"Fighting," Alfred said. "Fighting, okay?" He took a deep breath. "Obviously we're still married with that enchantment thing if your clock still work."

Arthur gave no indication that he thought anything strange of that although the enchantment really should have all disappeared when they came over to this world. What he did do was stare at Alfred's naked left hand and abruptly look like he might start crying again. Alfred wished he'd kept that ring on where it was still placed on his dresser but it was too late now.

"You can't kill me anyway," Alfred said.

Arthur gave another sniff, and a tear trickled down his cheek. This time, Alfred couldn't help reaching out and brushing it away.

Arthur flinched at his touch, but also couldn't seem to contain another sob. "Don't touch me!" he shouted, voice hoarse, but Alfred ignored his struggling and pulled him into an embrace anyway until Arthur stopped fighting it and really did begin crying, muffled, into Alfred's shirt. Alfred could feel the hot tears seeping through the fabric and the tremble in his body when every cry shook his entire frame, and that made it all even worse.

Alfred wasn't sure how long he sat, holding Arthur until Arthur's sobs died to hiccups and he finally loosened his grip on Alfred's shirt. Arthur looked puffy-eyed and tired the way crying tended to exhaust people, but at least he was calmer now.

Alfred still had no idea what to say to Arthur, but this time, it was Arthur who spoke first, twisting his wedding band on his finger again.

"You're right. The important thing is getting back now," Arthur said, his voice steady if hoarse from the crying. He let out a shuddering sigh and met Alfred's eyes. "I'll have to go back at least. If… if you could help me get back to the castle. That's all I'll need."

Clearly it burned Arthur's pride to be asking for help but Alfred was all too happy to nod. "Of course!" he said, relieved that there was something he could do. "We'll go back to the castle tomorrow. I'll go back to Spades with you—"

"There's no need," Arthur cut him off. "You're right. This is our war and it doesn't involve you."

Alfred's first instinct was to protest it, but he could see how tired Arthur was and he didn't want to fight again – not when they'd finally reached a truce. "Okay," he said. "Okay. Get some sleep."

Arthur nodded and this time when he curled up beneath the sheets, his breathing nearly immediately evened out.

Alfred tried to move silently when he went to change into his own pajamas and then unrolled the sleeping bag and got in. He was also a lot more tired than he'd expected – too tense from the entire exchange, but it still took him a long time to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>Alfred woke to a crash and loud cursing coming from his kitchen and he immediately sat up, blinking in the pale light of morning. It took him a few moments to remember why he was sleeping on the floor and then a few more moments to remember that that meant it was <em>Arthur<em> in his kitchen and sprinted for the room.

When he rounded the corner to the room, he stared and Arthur, like a deer caught in headlights, stared right back at Alfred, eyes wide. The microwave, of all things, was lying on the ground and smoking gently with the plug half ripped from the wall. Several pots and pans were also sitting on Alfred's gas stove, knobs turned every which way, and an utter mess of things everywhere.

"I was just looking for something to eat," Arthur said, looking more defiant than anything else.

Alfred stared between Arthur's scowling face to the mess he'd made and nearly began to laugh except that he didn't quite dare to considering what had happened the day before. Instead, he crossed the hazardous floor to go turn off the gas before Arthur blew up the apartment.

"What were you trying to do with all this?" Alfred asked, looking at the microwave. "I think you killed it."

"It's not like I meant to do it. It just started beeping and—and I didn't know what to do." Arthur still looked annoyed, but he was turning red and wringing his hands now, his feet covered with flour – Alfred probably didn't even want to know how that happened.

"I know you're a bad cook, but this is really something," Alfred said. "I'll get breakfast. You should probably change. Get whatever you want from the closet."

Arthur didn't say anything but left the room for Alfred to clean up.

Alfred sighed and crouched to heave up the microwave. He actually had a fairly good-sized microwave – one of the old ones from the 80s that had come with the house and was probably awful with radiation and weighed about fifty pounds, but when Alfred picked it up, he found it was incredibly easy like it had weighed next to nothing.

Alfred set it down on the counter and frowned, staring down at his hands. It couldn't be. The only time he'd had strength that easy was when he'd been back in Spades. Here, although it wasn't like Alfred had much trouble lifting fifty pounds, it shouldn't be like it weighed absolutely nothing. "Arthur?" he called.

"What?" Arthur said from the room.

"There isn't supposed to be any magic here, right?" Alfred said.

Arthur came out, frowning. He'd found one of Alfred's long T-shirts although it was still too oversized on him and the sleeves stretched past Arthur's hands so he had to push them up. "Of course not," he said.

"Watch this," Alfred said as he picked up the microwave again, but this time it felt every bit of its fifty pounds of weight and he heaved it back onto the counter. He stared at his hands, flexing them. "I could have sworn…"

"If you're ready then," Arthur said. "We may as well… we may as well go to the castle." He was absently twisting the wedding band on his finger.

Maybe Alfred had just been imagining it, he thought, and grabbed the box of cereal off the top of the refrigerator and the carton of milk from inside it. "Here," he said, handing them both over to Arthur before getting him a bowl and spoon. "Mix it all together and eat," he told Arthur in case he didn't get it. Then he went to get dressed himself.

When Alfred came back into the kitchen, pulling on a sweatshirt, he saw Arthur stirring at the cereal in the bowl, looking at it with a mix of curiosity and disgust although he was eating it. He also did look better than the night before, less gaunt – or possibly that was just Alfred's imagination.

Alfred helped himself to a handful of the cereal, eating it dry and earning a rather disgusted look from Arthur although he didn't say anything, before he went and got an extra jacket for Arthur. At this time of year, it was chilly but not incredibly cold. Still, Alfred was a bit worried at how thin Arthur looked so he ended up pulling out his favorite leather bomber jacket – the warmest one he had besides the ski jacket.

"Here, you can wear this," he said, holding out the bomber jacket for Arthur. It was a vintage one from WWII that Matthew had found somewhere in the attic of their old house when they'd still lived together – as soon as Alfred had seen it, he'd claimed it. It was possibly the most expensive piece of clothing Alfred actually owned and he'd even gotten it repaired and everything with a fresh fleece lining and cleaning and retouching done a couple years back. Alfred didn't let most people so much as touch it, but he didn't have a choice in this case with Arthur looking so thin and nothing thicker than a sweatshirt in his closet otherwise.

Arthur had no appreciation for it. "I don't need it," he said, looking skeptically at the coat instead.

"It'll be cold out. Especially where we're going," Alfred said and held the coat out until Arthur took it although he didn't put it on.

After that, it was a matter of getting his wallet, keys, and cell phone, and then he was herding Arthur out the door.

Alfred didn't actually own a car since it was a bitch trying to find parking as was and his little university town was small enough that there wasn't really a point. On the other hand, the castle was in a fairly remote location that was actually unreachable by public transportation, so they walked the few blocks to the city center where Alfred found the local car rental agency.

Arthur's mood seemed to have improved from the day before although he was quieter than usual. Although the modern town must be strange to Arthur who had grown up in Spades, Alfred only caught him looking wide-eyed at the buildings and cars and sewer drains and sidewalks but he didn't do anything other than stare at those things as they passed them.

"The traffic lights – green means go, red means stop, and yellow means watch out cause it's going to turn red soon," Alfred explained to Arthur just in case although Arthur stopped at every curb with others who waited there for the lights to change. He must have learned somewhere along the way while he was trying to find Alfred, and Alfred felt more guilty about that. It must have been strange and scary for Arthur being in this world alone.

"If there aren't any cars, you can just walk across anyway. No one here really cares," Alfred said when they came to an emptier street.

He was a bit surprised when Arthur walked very quickly and close to Alfred as though he was scared that a car might show up and try to run him over at any moment. Alfred frowned, wondering again just what Arthur had done to get here. When Alfred had been in Spades, at least Arthur had been around to guide him through things.

When they got to the agency, Alfred held the door open for Arthur and followed him in, gesturing for Arthur to sit in one of the chairs to wait for him.

As he filled out the forms for the rental, he glanced periodically back at Arthur who sat still, hugging the leather coat to his chest and looking around the room. He was probably, Alfred realized, in culture shock. After all, at least Alfred had somewhat studied and heard of the things in Spades, but nothing in Spades had ever been this modern. They didn't even have electricity despite all the anachronisms.

When he finally got everything processed, he found Arthur flipping through a magazine, eyes wide and fingers tracing down the page, and it was actually incredibly cute how astonished Arthur seemed to be by something as simple as a magazine.

As soon as he caught Alfred looking at him though, Arthur went red and put the magazine down. "Are you done?" he said instead.

"Yeah, let's go get the car," Alfred said.

The rental car was driven out for Alfred to pick up and then he opened the passenger's seat door for Arthur who got in and started running his hands over everything in a surprised sort of way. First it was the fuzzy seats, and then the dashboard, and then he looked awed at the back seat and the glove compartment and the little air freshener strapped to the AC fans, his eyes wide and curious and green.

"It's a car," Alfred said, getting in the driver's side. He had an international driver's license just in case and he'd driven a couple of times in the UK, and at least taken enough public transportation that it wasn't too weird driving on the opposite side of the road.

Arthur quickly drew his hands away, embarrassed at being caught, but Alfred could see him sinking his fingers into the soft felt of the seat he was sitting on.

"You have to put on the seatbelt," Alfred said and when Arthur looked confused, he reached over Arthur's shoulder and buckled him in. "It's for safety."

He put on his own seatbelt and stowed the paperwork in the glove compartment. He entered in the direction to the GPS and was a bit amused to watch Arthur jump when the GPS began speaking. "It tells you directions if you put in the address," Alfred explained.

When he actually began to drive, Arthur let out a little squeak and then held on to the sides of his seat, looking even more wide-eyed like he couldn't help himself.

"It's just like a faster carriage, you know," Alfred said.

"_Slow__down_," Arthur said, pale.

Alfred grinned.

After Arthur's initial terror faded, the drive was mostly uneventful as it consisted mostly of the lush green countryside, darkened and wind-stirred on the cloudy morning. Arthur must have still been exhausted because once he got over the horror of being able to go 60mph on roads, and once he seemed to have come to terms that Alfred had no intention of actually crashing into anything, he'd nodded off against the window, snuggled into Alfred's bomber jacket.

Despite the monotony of driving, Alfred didn't turn on the radio because he didn't want to scare Arthur awake again – he looked like he needed the sleep still – and instead just drove in silence, thinking about what he should do.

For now, there was nothing to do but to go back to the castle. Arthur had woken and he certainly couldn't stay here – not when there was still a war going on in Spades. Although they'd agreed that Alfred no longer had any responsibilities to Spades, Alfred didn't feel right about letting Arthur go back alone.

Arthur still hadn't taken off his wedding ring although he'd noticed Alfred no longer had his on. It had to mean something, right? But Arthur had also acted sweet sometimes in Spades, and he'd been plotting to kill Alfred the entire time. That particular threat obviously wouldn't work anymore – not when the clock still worked which meant their enchanted marriage must still be active despite there being no magic in this world. It also meant that Alfred must still be the king of Spades, and that would mean he should go back. He couldn't let Arthur handle everything alone.

Alfred frowned and looked over at Arthur. That was what was bothering him – the spade time clock. After all, a couple hour drive might cover quite a bit of distance, but it still shouldn't take seven days to travel by foot. He did the math in his head. Alfred drove around 60mph on a road that wasn't even straight, and by the GPS, it said the estimated travel time would be three hours to get to the castle. The average adult walking rate was around 3mph or so, give or take. Altogether, it shouldn't have taken Arthur more than three days travel taking into account the time he might use to sleep and rest. If he was walking very slowly or going a very roundabout way, it might take four or five days. Definitely not seven entire days.

"Arthur," Alfred said.

Arthur didn't stir.

Alfred felt bad but this was probably important. He reached over and shook Arthur lightly on the shoulder. "Arthur, I need to see the clock. The spade time clock."

Arthur woke, looking a bit disoriented. "Why?" he asked, but he was reaching into the pockets of the sweatpants he was wearing and pulling it out.

"When you were looking for me. Did the clock always work?" Alfred asked.

"What?" Arthur asked.

"I was just thinking – this morning, I thought I had some of the super strength I had back in Spades," Alfred said. "When I was lifting the microwave. But only for a moment."

Arthur frowned, looking down at the spade time clock that was now steadily pointing toward himself and Alfred. "Sometimes…" he said finally. "I… I thought something might have happened to you every time it stopped working again."

At that moment, the clock suddenly began ticking and when Alfred looked over, the spade time clock was accurately reflecting the digital time on the dashboard like a normal pocket watch.

"Why is it doing that? How many times did that happen?" Alfred asked.

Arthur shrugged. "How would I know?" he said listlessly. "Magic isn't supposed to work at all in your world."

Twenty minutes later, the clock stopped ticking again after Arthur had fallen back asleep.

Alfred had no idea what to make of this except that possibly – possibly this meant that Arthur could kill him after all. When the clock wasn't working. Arthur was defenseless now – fast asleep in the seat next to his own. In a moment, he could abandon Arthur again, crush that clock and never look back. But Arthur couldn't survive on his own in this world. Arthur needed him right now, and Alfred could never abandon Arthur defenseless like this. Not again.

* * *

><p>They made it to the castle in just under three hours, and Alfred left Arthur by the car to go get entrance tickets into the castle. He glanced back at the car as he waited for the attendant to print out the tickets. Arthur was standing just a little distance from the car, halfway up the sloped pathway up to the castle. As Alfred watched, Arthur shivered and pulled on the bomber jacket he was holding. His hair was windblown and pale as he stared up the green hillside at the castle, and he looked small and far away standing there against the backdrop of the crumbling old ruin and the windblown moors.<p>

"Come on, let's go," Alfred said, walking up to him after he got the tickets.

Arthur looked at him, expressionless, but he gave a small nod and followed Alfred up to the entrance where Alfred handed over the two entrance tickets and led Arthur inside.

He knew the route nearly by heart now even though he hadn't actually been there many times. They climbed up the stairs and walked through the hallways. The castle was empty and echoed with their footsteps but it seemed that not many people were there on such a cloudy, cold day.

They got to the oval room where there was the stone platform that Arthur had slept on for years.

"What do we do now?" Alfred asked, looking around the room. Nothing about it seemed any different from the last time they were there except that Arthur was awake and no longer on that stone bed.

Arthur still had no expression as he stared at the stone platform. "The transportation spell isn't here," he said and frowned, walking around the platform. He ran a finger on the stone but it came away clean.

"What?" Alfred said.

"It's not here. The transportation spell he should have prepared," Arthur repeated.

"You mean the weird circle thing?" Alfred asked, guessing although he'd only seen it once.

Arthur nodded. "It works the same as transporting anything else. He should have transported the transportation spell with another transportation spell – a bit risky, but the best we could do under the circumstances."

He glanced up at Alfred and Alfred knew he was thinking the same thing. Right before they'd left, Hearts and Clubs had attacked them. If something had happened to Yao – if Yao was unable to get to the ruins to make the second transformation spell for Arthur…

"Can't you make one here?" Alfred asked.

"Not without knowing the mechanics of your world," Arthur said, shaking his head. "Your world shouldn't even be compatible with magic."

"Then you're stranded here?" Alfred asked.

Arthur shrugged. "You could try kissing me again," he said and this time there was no hesitation or nervousness in his voice. It was just flat. "It's how we got here and these things sometimes work in reverse too. It'll probably take you back as well, but I'll send you back here as soon as I can."

Alfred didn't like Arthur sounding like that, but of course there really was nothing between them now except for the enchanted marriage.

"Okay. So should I just…" Alfred made a gesture with his hand, not really sure what to do and feeling nervous more than any other time he'd been with Arthur.

"You may as well," Arthur said, still looking nothing but tired and a bit anxious.

Alfred stepped forward, not really sure what to do to make Arthur respond, but in the end, it was Arthur who gave Alfred another inscrutable look and leaned forward. Finally, a bit of color came to Arthur's cheeks and he looked a little more like himself for just the moment before their lips met.

Arthur's lips were still chapped and dry, and the brush was so brief that Alfred almost thought he'd imagined it.

This time though, Alfred didn't go unconscious, but when he opened his eyes again, they were still standing in the same place.

Arthur frowned, looking at the stone platform.

"Check the clock," Alfred said.

Arthur pulled the spade time clock out of his pocket, but it seemed to be working because when Alfred walked in a circle around Arthur, the minute hand followed him.

Alfred reached over and kissed Arthur again, but still nothing happened, and when he opened his eyes to look at the clock, the hands were steadily pointing at himself and Arthur.

"Stop, it's not going to work," Arthur said when Alfred tried to kiss him again.

"Well what are we supposed to do then?" Alfred asked.

"Nothing," Arthur said, sounding annoyed. "There's nothing we can do now. We'll just have to… there's something wrong with the magic. I'll have to figure out another way to get back."

And Alfred finally saw an opportunity to make it up to Arthur. "You can stay with me for now then," he said.

He saw Arthur open his mouth and in case it was a protest, he added, "I'm not taking no for an answer. You have no idea how things work here anyway. I can help."

"Aren't you afraid I'll try to kill you?" Arthur said, the nasty sarcasm clear in his voice which hurt a little, but at least it was better than Arthur being sad.

"No," Alfred said. He didn't add that it was because they both knew that the spade time clock was still working and if the magic really wasn't working properly like Arthur had said, there was no way Arthur could risk killing Alfred without killing himself.

Arthur just exhaled. "Fine," he said.

* * *

><p>Arthur was all business after the failed attempt to go back to Spades.<p>

"Tell me if your strength comes back," Arthur said. He'd been talking nonstop ever since they'd left the castle again – he'd obviously recovered his energy after sleeping so much. "Clearly, some form of magic is working in this world although we were so _sure_… and Yao is rarely wrong with his studies…"

Alfred was mostly relieved that Arthur was talking to him again even if most of it was rhetorical.

"And the clock is still working most of the time," Arthur continued. "Do you know of magic here?"

Alfred was startled at the sudden question directly at him. "Um…not that I know of. Magic isn't real here – it's all done with mirrors."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

Alfred sighed. "Magic doesn't exist here. Most people agree anyway." It was more like Arthur had rewound back to when they'd first met and everything Alfred said was met with unimpressed skepticism.

"Does magic exist or not? It's a simple question, you idiot," Arthur said.

"Well sane people know it doesn't exist," Alfred said, annoyed. "There's some crazies though like psychics or those really superstitious people and stuff. How would I know?"

"Those mystics, as you say, are the people who are usually most in tune with the magic," Arthur said.

"Okay, it might be true where you come from, but definitely not here," Alfred said. "That section in the bookstores is just a bunch of stupid teenager stuff that no one actually believes."

"You have books on it then?" Arthur asked, immediately interested. "It would be wise to learn the magic you have in this world."

"I'm telling you, it's all lies."

"Well clearly it isn't or this clock wouldn't still be working. Or do you have a better idea of how to get back?" Arthur snapped.

"Fine." Alfred gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

Arthur had gone into a sulk too, crossing his arms and glaring out of the window.

Alfred barely kept from saying "I told you so" when they made it back into town by mid-afternoon and immediately headed for the local Waterstone's. It took a few moments to locate the section in the store, but then it was worth it when Arthur started flipping through the books.

"Teenage love charms? Astrology 101? Are you bloody joking?" Arthur shook a fat volume about tarot cards at Alfred.

"I did tell you," Alfred said, unable to resist. "It really doesn't exist here except in people's imaginations."

"This can't be all there is. Haven't you got any other bookshops then? Or libraries?" Arthur asked, shoving the books, annoyed, back onto the shelves.

"There's the local library and the campus library," Alfred said.

"Take me there," Arthur said with all of the haughtiness of royalty although the effect didn't quite work when he was dressed in Alfred's oversized clothes and getting weird looks as was.

Already, he'd attracted more than one glance and not really in an appreciative way.

"No, we're going shopping first," Alfred decided.

"What?" Arthur said, shooting an annoyed look at him.

"You can't keep wearing my clothes the entire time you're here – you're getting weird looks already," Alfred said. "You'll need your own clothes."

Arthur looked down at the sleeves of the bomber jacket that extended right past his fingers. "I suppose that would be wise… under the circumstances," he said and shot Alfred a glance that wasn't entirely hostile.

"Yeah, come on," Alfred said and grinned at him.

Oddly now more than ever, he wanted to be nice to Arthur even though it wasn't going to change their relationship or their current status or anything really. What was done was done. Still, Alfred wanted was Arthur's sweet, small smile back on his face. He hadn't realized how much he liked it until it was gone now.

Arthur, on the other hand, seemed determined to stay mad at Alfred despite their current truce. He acted grumpy most of the time, but it seemed to be counteracted by how strange he found everything in England. Alfred watched him run his hands through the racks of clothes as though admiring the different colors and textures which definitely didn't exist – at least not in these sorts of vibrant shades – back in Spades.

Hilariously, Arthur seemed to take a liking to punk band T-shirts of all things, and Alfred caught him grinning more than once at some of the rude puns printed on them.

"If you like it, you can go try it on. There's a changing room," Alfred pointed to the back of Topman which he hadn't even known sold T-shirts like this.

Arthur spent an inordinate amount of time in the dressing rooms and when he finally came out, it was with a bunch of T-shirts and sweater vests of all things – it was a seriously odd combination. Arthur looked considerably brighter with his new clothes, although Alfred had to choose a random selection of trousers and jeans for him too – the latter of which Arthur hated.

"They're uncomfortable," he kept saying. "They're so tight. How do you wear them?"

"They're skinny jeans. It's popular right now," Alfred said with a sigh.

They also picked up several pairs of under things and socks for Arthur, as well as a pair of walking shoes in a shoe shop for Arthur because he couldn't go around in those fancy boots of his for so long. Once, Alfred caught Arthur running his hands all over an expensive Burberry pea coat. He seemed to especially like the buttons.

"Sorry, I'm not that rich," Alfred said.

At least Arthur didn't throw a queen tantrum and demand whatever he wanted, but followed Alfred out. Alfred had more or less spent a month worth of paychecks on Arthur and his clothes, and Alfred didn't even have a job at the moment and was living off what he got paid as a graduate student TAing for professors. It was more than he could really afford, but Arthur did need all these things and Arthur did seem happier with his new purchases so it was all worth it.

By the time they were done with all the shopping, Alfred felt a bit like he was shopping with one of his old girlfriends because he was loaded down with the various shopping bags and boxes that had come with all the purchases, staggering to put them all in the back of the car.

Arthur was looking much happier if tired again, although the shopping had lasted them the entire rest of the afternoon and now the thing illuminating the streets and shops were the bright glow of lights.

"You have lights everywhere at night. The flames are so steady," Arthur said, staring up at one of the streetlights.

"It's electricity," Alfred answered. "I could go into the physics and things, but I'm pretty sure you'd be bored."

He'd thought of the best introduction to his world now. "Hey, I'll take you to a restaurant," he said.

"A what?" Arthur asked.

"It's like one of your taverns but only for eating," Alfred explained. He'd never really thought about it but restaurants were a rather modern invention. "I'll take you to one of our most popular ones here," Alfred said, grinning as he drove up to the golden arches. "This is the most amazing stuff your taste buds will ever taste – McDonald's."

* * *

><p>"You like it," Alfred said.<p>

"I do not," Arthur answered, but after he'd taken that first bite of a Big Mac, he hadn't stopped and was devouring the food at an incredible pace.

It was actually rather amusing to watch Arthur eat but of course fast food was awesome. Now that Arthur was actually dressed in clothes that fit him, he looked like nothing more than a normal young man around Alfred's own age eating out at a fast food restaurant. It was too normal for what Alfred was used to Arthur looking like and acting like and Alfred kept catching himself staring at Arthur just because he looked so _normal_.

"You should try ice cream too," Alfred said. "You didn't have that in Spades either."

"What's that?" Arthur asked.

Now that they were at a truce and had at least the vague idea of a plan, and Arthur was clothed and fed, he seemed to be in a more forgiving mood.

"It's great! Like cream that's frozen but it comes in all these different flavors—you'll just have to try it," Alfred said.

Arthur hummed and took another French fry. "What is this called again?" he asked.

"A French fry," Alfred said. "Or chips sometimes here in England anyway."

Arthur looked thoughtful and took another fry.

By the time they got back to the flat late and loaded down with shopping, Arthur seemed to have relaxed enough – or was possibly just exhausted because he went off to the bathroom with the toothbrush Alfred had bought him without a complaint. He came back out in a pair of boxer shorts and an oversized T-shirt – one of Alfred's – and Alfred remembered they'd forgotten to pick up pajamas for Arthur. Then Arthur fell straight into bed where he was out cold a moment later.

Satisfied that Arthur was going to be all right, Alfred did the homework he had neglected all day and studied late into the night to make up the work he hadn't gotten done, and when he found Arthur octopused across the bed with one arm hanging out from the blankets, he tucked Arthur in more securely before he went to sleep himself.

* * *

><p>"I'm going to school today," Alfred said when he saw Arthur walk into the kitchen sleepily the next morning.<p>

Arthur was still yawning, his hair a golden bird's nest and rubbing at the goose bumps on his bare arms.

"Go put something on or you'll get sick," Alfred said, stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth. He had probably woken Arthur up judging by how sleepy Arthur still looked.

"Why are you leaving?" Arthur asked after another yawn.

"I'm a student. I have school," Alfred said. "There's bread and stuff in the fridge. Don't cook anything."

Arthur glared at him although it wasn't very threatening when he interrupted himself with a yawn. He put a hand over his mouth and Alfred noticed he was still wearing the wedding band. "I'm a good cook."

"All right fine, but I don't want to come back to the fire department out here," Alfred said.

"The what?" Arthur asked.

"Never mind," Alfred said. "Just uh… make sure the air ventilation is on at least," he said and reached up to power on the fan above the stove.

Arthur jumped at the sudden loud whirring and then looked interested as he came closer to stare up at the ventilation system.

"It'll get the smoke out if you don't make _too_ much smoke," Alfred said and turned it off again as he rushed back out to the living room to pack up his backpack.

He heard the whir of the ventilation fans turn on again, and then off, and then on again.

When Alfred walked back into the kitchen, Arthur was still looking interested up at it and it took Alfred completely by surprise how funny and even cute Arthur looked being so interested in something as trivial as a ventilation fan.

"Stove is like this," Alfred said, turning the knobs to show Arthur. "It's a gas stove so make sure if you turn it on, it lights or you might blow yourself up or die of carbon monoxide poisoning."

Arthur gave a little jump when the fire lit at the gas stove and he looked a lot more interested. "The fire just appears?"

"Uh, kind of. Stuff with the pipes and gas, I can explain it to you when I come home," Alfred said. Then he remembered how happy Arthur had been when Alfred ate his cooking. It would be hell on his taste buds but it might cheer Arthur up a little. "Why don't you make dinner tonight. I have class all day so I'll be back at night."

Arthur turned to him, a surprised look on his face that bloomed into not quite a smile, but at least he looked hopeful. "I—I, okay," he said. "Where are your pots?"

Alfred showed him where everything was and cursed again when he saw he was really running late. "Okay, I really gotta go. Here," Alfred remembered last minute to dig through his kitchen drawer for the spare house key which he gave to Arthur. "Here's a spare key just in case," he said. "See you tonight—"

"Wait, books!" Arthur said as Alfred grabbed his backpack, checked for his wallet, keys, and cell phone like he always did. "You said you had a library, right? I need the books on magic."

"Right, got it. See you," Alfred said and then was out the door.

He had to sprint all the way to the bus stop and even then he barely made the next bus for campus.

Being thrown back into the normalcy of classes was a little jolting again, but Alfred managed to keep his mind mostly on classes and Professor Germania's lecture despite the million things fighting for attention in his mind like having to get the magic books for Arthur despite probably being useless to them, and hoping that Arthur hadn't burned anything down while Alfred was gone, but he hadn't taught Arthur how to use the phone and Alfred didn't even have a landline. He should probably get Arthur a temporary cheap cell phone while he was here just in case. That and pajamas and probably a real coat of his own at some point. There was also the matter of groceries – there wasn't much left in Alfred's refrigerator as was and with Arthur around too, they'd be going through the food much faster now.

It wasn't until lunch break that Alfred walked out to the courtyard. It was a pleasant afternoon and Alfred hadn't brought a lunch but he was planning to go to one of the nearby bistros for a sandwich or sushi or something. There was a rather attractive teenager right by the entrance to the courtyard dressed smartly in skinny jeans and a thick scarf, and it took Alfred a few moments of staring to realize _why_ his eye had immediately been drawn to the young man because he turned and waved at Alfred.

"Arthur?" Alfred said and jogged forward to meet him.

It was indeed Arthur who fit in near perfectly with the other students now if a bit more posh and British – thanks to all the shopping they'd done the day before. He had managed to unearth one of Alfred's old messenger bags and while he wasn't exactly smiling when he saw Alfred, at least he wasn't scowling.

"What are you doing here? Are you okay? Is the flat okay?" Alfred asked.

Arthur scowled at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"And how did you know where my school is?" Alfred asked.

"The clock," Arthur said with a sigh and rolled his eyes. "I just thought—you didn't bring a lunch with you so—so I brought you food."

Alfred was honestly surprised at that, but he grinned at Arthur and his reddening face. "You made me lunch?"

"It's mostly for me," Arthur said. "I just made a lot so I thought you could do with something to eat as well."

Alfred suppressed his first instinct to groan. "Thanks," he said instead. "Let's go eat then. You haven't yet, right?"

He looked for a spare corner in the courtyard. There were a few students hanging around, some tourists walking around the old architecture, and some others like Alfred and Arthur who were getting out lunches along with their books to study in their free time.

Alfred found Arthur a place by a stone statue of some founder or other and sat down on the steps.

Arthur got out several boxes of Tupperware, each filled with increasingly less appetizing lumps of green or burnt black things, but Arthur looked so proud of himself that Alfred couldn't quite bring himself to do anything more than accept the food from Arthur.

"How did you get here? You walked?" Alfred asked.

Arthur nodded, looking happily down at his lapful of disgusting Tupperware.

"You can take the bus next time," Alfred said and distracted himself as he ate Arthur's gross cooking by explaining how exactly the public transportation system worked. "There'll be signs that say which buses stop at which stops, but if you have any questions, you can ask the driver too."

It was actually surprisingly fun – food aside – to sit in the shade with Arthur, telling him how to get home and talking about completely trivial things. And lunch passed all too quickly between explaining to Arthur exactly how water came out of a tap and how machines made most clothing and how type worked so it wasn't just someone with very precise handwriting.

Then, since Alfred didn't entirely trust Arthur not to bus himself into London by accident, he took Arthur to the university library and found where all the bizarre occult books would be. There was surprisingly three long shelves filled with books – much more than Alfred had expected there to be.

"I'll come pick you up after I'm done," Alfred told him. "We can check out whatever you want then."

Arthur was already thumbing through a volume and he nodded.

Alfred went back to class relieved and hoping that Arthur wouldn't get himself in any sort of trouble there.

* * *

><p>When he went back for Arthur another four hours later, Alfred found him asleep at one of the study tables, head pillowed on a particularly fat book and looking for all the world like another university student. It was hilarious and Alfred debated letting Arthur sleep a little longer except that he was hungry and wanted to get dinner so he reached forward and shook Arthur on the shoulder.<p>

"Hey, Arthur, we can go now," Alfred said.

Arthur jolted up, looking confused and blinking rapidly as he stared at Alfred. "Huh?"

Alfred grinned. "You fell asleep. Come on, I'm done with class," he said.

Arthur relaxed and yawned again as he nodded.

"Are there any you want to borrow?" Alfred asked.

"These," Arthur said, gesturing to a small stack of books and the one he'd just been sleeping on.

"You actually found something useful?" Alfred asked as he picked up the books Arthur wanted.

"I don't know if they'll be actually useful but they do have some information," Arthur said, picking up the messenger bag to follow Alfred up to the desk where he gave the books and his student ID over for the librarian to check out.

As they waited, Professor Germania came through the doors of the library and nodded to Alfred, coming over to the circulation desk.

"Hey Professor," Alfred greeted him.

"Alfred," Professor Germania said. "Not paying much attention in class today, hm?"

Alfred gave him a sheepish grin. "A lot of things on my mind lately."

Professor Germania raised an eyebrow. "Don't we all," he said. "How is your thesis coming along?" he asked. "We are meeting next…"

"Next Thursday," Alfred said quickly. "Yeah, I got some more done on the medieval castles research and stuff. I just need to type it all up." Professor Germania had a way of making Alfred feel like he was under severe scrutiny by a stern professor – which, come to think of it, was exactly what was happening.

"Very well," Professor Germania said and then his eyes slid over to Arthur.

"Oh, this is Arthur," Alfred said, feeling a bit awkward about introducing Arthur to anyone even though the librarian was taking forever with the books and they couldn't just leave. "My uh… friend," he said.

"It's a pleasure," Arthur said smoothly and held his hand out for Professor Germania to shake.

Professor Germania nodded as well but gave him a small smile. "Indeed," he said.

The librarian finally finished checking out Arthur's books and handed them over to Alfred who began stuffing as many as he could into his backpack, handing a few over to Arthur to hold for the time being.

"The occult?" Professor Germania said, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah," Alfred said, going red. This was not exactly the sort of thing he wanted anyone seeing him check out. "More research."

Professor Germania shook his head, smiling, as he walked up to the circulation desk. "Then I will see you in my office next Thursday," he said to Alfred. "And it was good to meet you, Arthur."

"Yeah, see you in class," Alfred said, taking the extra books from Arthur again.

"I have two books on reserve," he heard Professor Germania say to the librarian behind them.

"He's your teacher?" Arthur asked as they walked outside into the cool night air.

"Yeah, he's one of the lead researchers on a lot of the super old civilization stuff – his actual expertise is Celts, I think but he knows all the stuff about Romans in this area and medieval times and everything too. It makes his name kind of fitting, huh," Alfred said. "A lot of people think that's a nickname but it's actually his real name – Vortigern Germania."

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone looks like that when they hear it the first time," Alfred said, laughing. "Everyone also thinks he looks like Legolas."

"Who?" Arthur said.

"I'm going to show you movies when we get back," Alfred said with a grin.

It was actually hilarious when Alfred did show Arthur the television later that night. For one, Arthur kept trying to talk to the people on the screen.

"How do you do?" a movie channel he flipped to said.

It was possibly the funniest thing Alfred had ever seen when Arthur gave a little wide-eyed jump on the couch. "How do you do?" Arthur said to the television with a short bow.

Alfred fell off the couch laughing and earned himself a few kicks from Arthur who had no idea why Alfred was laughing. "It's not funny!" Arthur said. "That's rude."

"He's not talking to you. Look—it's just a movie," Alfred said. "They can't hear or see you. It's recorded."

"What?" Arthur asked and reached to touch the television, jerking back when his fingers touched static electricity.

And then it took Alfred another hour to explain how exactly televisions worked and how there _were_ real people involved, but they were not inside the box and in fact, everything Arthur was watching had been pre-recorded.

It felt oddly comfortable in a way it never had been in Spades when politics and status was involved in everything and Alfred's top priority had been to stay ahead of that game. With Arthur next to him here like a normal person – all right, maybe not exactly normal considering how Arthur couldn't seem to accept that television just worked that way and no, he did not have to buy everything the commercials told him to buy.

"But that says it's the best tea in the entire world," Arthur was saying, eyes glued to a commercial for some tea or other.

"It's a commercial. Their job is to try and get you to buy it," Alfred said.

"But it really does look delicious," Arthur said, unconvinced.

Alfred sighed. "I'll take you to the grocery tomorrow and you can get whatever tea you want."

That comment actually made Arthur to stare at him in wide-eyed wonder. "How many kinds are there?"

"Oh, you'll see," Alfred said with a grin.

Arthur was just so… down to earth all of a sudden, like he really _was_ just an ordinary man like Alfred instead of the haughty, educated, royal queen of Spades who was a step above everyone else just by virtue of being born whereas Alfred would never be the right king for Arthur with his ordinary background. Nothing like when their relationship had been a marriage based on a spell, and that was apparently so bad for Arthur and the kingdom that he'd try to kill Alfred just to end it. With Arthur smelling like soap and new clothes sitting on Alfred's couch with his feet tucked under him, it was just so normal. Alfred had wanted the extraordinary all his life, and now he had to wonder that he'd never enjoyed the ordinary as much as now.

* * *

><p>As promised, Alfred took Arthur grocery shopping the next morning before his afternoon classes. He brought a camera just so he capture the moment Arthur realized that the entire aisle full of boxes was actually different types of tea.<p>

Arthur just about started crying from the quantity of tea and he wanted to try all the different sorts from the classic Earl Grey blend to the weird herbal mango citrus tea bags. Alfred ended up buying him six different tins and boxes never mind that Arthur probably wasn't going to stick around long enough to drink it all, and never mind how expensive it was coming out to be.

"Have you got a kettle?" Arthur asked rapturously, holding all six tins of tea in his arms until Alfred got him a basket to put it all in.

"An electric one, yeah, it came with the flat," Alfred said.

"An _electric_ kettle?" Arthur asked, eyes round. "Like your tee-vee?"

"Okay, it sounds too weird when you say that in your accent, just call it the television or telly like all the Brits do," Alfred said.

"The telly," Arthur said as though he was trying out the word. "And the Internet is different?"

"Yeah. The electric kettle runs on electricity which powers on those other things too—I'll just show you when we get home," Alfred said, giving up on the explanation when Arthur got distracted by the aisle of pre-packaged cookies and desserts, marveling at how scones could come out of boxes.

Alfred ended up going home with far more than he'd intended to actually buy, mostly because Arthur was so fascinated by everything that Alfred had a hard time denying Arthur anything he wanted. At least it was definitely enough groceries for a week and then some probably.

It was class again in the afternoon, but this time at least Arthur was sufficiently distracted with all the electronics in Alfred's flat and his quantity of tea – he'd absolutely fallen in love with the electric kettle, Alfred was sure. And when Alfred left, Arthur was sitting in front of the television looking very intently at some punk rock band on MTV.

Alfred wondered what Arthur would think of a record store or an iPod or even how he would react to a real concert.

And in the following days, that was how things worked. Alfred would go to his classes and Arthur would study magic, but in all his free time he took Arthur places, showing him the modern world as Alfred knew it. He brought Arthur to the cinema to watch a movie that he even let Arthur choose – it ended up being an action flick that made Arthur jump every time there was an explosion.

"If we could get _that_ in Spades, we would completely win the war," Arthur kept saying excitedly afterwards. "Or one of those what do you call it… the shooting thing?"

"A gun?" Alfred said.

"That!" Arthur said excitedly. "Are those real? You can really get those?"

"Yeah, actually I'm pretty good with one myself," Alfred said. "I used to go to the shooting range a bit when I was still in the States but here, they're all illegal."

"You know how to use one of those?" Arthur said, looking suitably impressed for once, and Alfred couldn't help straightening up a bit. It was just that it was difficult to get Arthur's approval as Alfred well knew back in Spades. For Arthur to be so impressed so easily was definitely awesome.

"If we could bring those to Spades…" Arthur trailed off and abruptly looked less happy.

That was one thing that hadn't been working out well. Although Arthur had been studying magic in his free time, he didn't seem to be able to find anything that would help. He hadn't even come close to a basic illumination spell (what Arthur claimed was basic anyway) much less the sort of powerful transportation spell needed to get back to Spades. They also hadn't talked any more about Alfred going back with Arthur but at this point, it didn't matter if there was no magic anyway.

Arthur began to twist the wedding band on his finger which was something Alfred had noticed him doing every time they accidentally touched on subjects like this.

Alfred was seriously beginning to hate it every time Arthur looked that way as though he had been suddenly disappointed again. He clapped Arthur on the shoulder instead. "Hey, you know the ice cream I was telling you about last time? I know a great place near here. Let's go."

Arthur nodded but he didn't look less troubled.

* * *

><p>A few days later found them in Alfred's university library again with Arthur criticizing every single book on occult magic there was.<p>

"None of these are any use. What is this Reader's Guide to Harry Potter?" Arthur said, brandishing a commentary on the Harry Potter books.

"Well, technically it's talking about magic," Alfred said with a shrug. "You can't find anything helpful at all?"

"No, at best some old incantations but they're so mixed in with other things, it's impossible to say what works and what doesn't," Arthur said, glaring at the shelf.

"Why don't you just get a bunch of things and try randomly?" Alfred suggested.

Arthur gave Alfred an impressively disgusted look. "You really haven't the slightest clue about magic, have you? It doesn't work that way! Do you know how disastrous mixing magic can be? Entire kingdoms have been destroyed because of it."

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "It's not that bad, is it?"

"Yes it is. Magic is all about knowing the balance of the world and being able to manipulate it," Arthur said.

Alfred gave Arthur a blank look.

Arthur sighed. "Such as creating something. You cannot create something without destroying another or at least changing its form. In baking, you use flour, eggs, and butter in order to make a scone, but in exchange, the flour, eggs, and butter are no longer what they were before. You have less of all those ingredients now, in exchange for a scone—"

"Is that how you make your scones?" Alfred said, unable to resist.

Arthur glared at him. "In any case, it's the same principle with magic. The power we have to change or transform something with magic is the same as any other form of power. We thought that magic didn't exist in this world, but if it does, we need to know the rules of it or else—"

"What about quantum mechanics then? People have been saying there might be any number of dimensions which might be what Spades is," Alfred said. "And who knows how many other worlds out there that we just aren't aware of. If that's true, the magic might all be the same."

"Quantum what?" Arthur said.

"Never mind," Alfred said.

"Anyway, the point is – with each sort of magic, there's an exchange of power – in the case of Cards, from the very world itself," Arthur said. "I don't know how it works in your world, but if it's the same as Cards, your entire world might be destroyed if we aren't careful."

"You sound so green peace right now," Alfred said.

Arthur ignored him. "And the problem now is that no one in your world seems to have any concrete idea of what magic is. These books have absolutely no idea what they're talking about," he said and waved the Harry Potter reference book some more.

"Yeah, whatever, your world really makes no sense at all. Do you even know how many anachronisms are there?" Alfred said, taking the book from him and sticking it back on the shelf. "Is that why your world is so messed up? Your magic did it?"

Arthur snorted. "Who's to say your world isn't the one with the anachronisms?"

Alfred thought about that. "Whatever. So you're saying we can't use magic or we'd blow up the world.

"Not in so many words, but quite possibly," Arthur said.

"So what are we supposed to do then? You can't just never go back," he said.

As soon as the words left Alfred's mouth though, he found himself thinking what if – what if Arthur really never did leave. If Arthur stayed here on earth with Alfred, they could actually be a normal couple possibly. Alfred hadn't even really considered a real relationship with Arthur before, but what if Arthur really just stayed with him in his little flat forever. What if he could see Arthur walking around the kitchen in nothing but boxer shorts and a T-shirt every morning, his bare legs long and pale. What if he could take Arthur to restaurants and the movies and amusement parks (Alfred would love to see how Arthur reacted to a rollercoaster) just like a normal couple. What if he could come home from school every night and see Arthur curled up on the couch watching television with his eyes huge and fascinated, and a plate of burnt scones on the coffee table. There wouldn't be any of the pressures of royalty and court, none of the pretending or politics.

It surprised Alfred a little just how much that sort of a life appealed to him.

"There's nothing for it but more research," Arthur said with a sigh. "There are no other places you can get books?"

"Well, I guess you could try ordering some online. You can probably find more there," Alfred said and brought his laptop over so he could show Arthur how to type things into Amazon and Google search.

By the end of the week, if they hadn't found a solution to their problems yet, at least they were mostly comfortable around each other again and Arthur didn't make Alfred feel as much like he'd just kicked a baby kitten every time he saw him twisting the wedding band. And this time, Alfred found himself at least able to be a lot more honest with Arthur now that there were no more secrets – he could tease Arthur about his cooking, his eyebrows, his messy hair, his odd sense of taste, his strange obsession with tea. And while Arthur could be very grumpy, it seemed that something in him had loosened as well because while he certainly wasn't as sweet to Alfred as he had once been, he was spiky and fun to rile up and so fascinated with Alfred's world that it made Alfred see everything differently as well. Alfred found, for the first time, that he was honestly enjoying Arthur's company.

He came to the realization one afternoon as he was getting ready to head off to school and Arthur had gotten familiar enough with things that he'd made a grocery list consisting of marmite, milk, Twinings English Breakfast Tea (Alfred had no idea just how much Arthur was drinking to have already gone through an entire tin of the stuff in a week), and ground beef.

Arthur handed over the slip of paper with his neat cursive handwriting on it.

"Don't forget. And if you could find a proper cup and saucer, that would be even better," Arthur told Alfred, looking very serious for a subject so trivial. He was wearing a The Police T-shirt with an argyle sweater over it, he was holding a "Keep Calm and Carry On" mug, and his hair was an utter mess from coming out of the shower earlier and falling asleep with it wet on the couch. Alfred felt a laugh bubbling up just looking at Arthur, and he _liked_ how Arthur had all these weird contradicting quirks.

Although Arthur hadn't actually truly smiled since they met again, Alfred found he still thought Arthur was as gorgeous as the day of their wedding but reachable now – attainable. And his heart felt like it was swelling a little even when it was something as small as Arthur handing him a grocery list.

"All right, all right, I should take you to whatchamacallit Harrod's next time," Alfred said. "Or just London. You'll really like London."

Arthur looked a bit less severe, and curious now. "What's London?" he asked.

"The city you would have come from if you were from this world," Alfred answered and grinned. "Okay, I gotta go," he said, taking the shopping list and stuffing it in his pocket before grabbing his backpack and heading out the door.

He remembered to check for wallet, cell phone, and keys as he jogged down the street to the bus stop, already a bit late, and realized he'd forgotten his keys just as he got to the bus stop. Alfred debated for a moment whether to go back up for them or not – it wasn't like Arthur wouldn't be home now to open the door for him when he got back but just in case Arthur went to sleep early or something, Alfred didn't want to wake him up just to open the door.

As he debated going back for keys, the bus drove up to the stop. Alfred decided on the bus and walked up to it, getting out his wallet for his bus pass. As he waited for the passengers to get off, Alfred was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Braginsky?" Alfred said when he saw Ivan Braginsky coming down the steps of the bus.

"Hello, Alfred," Ivan said with that ever-present smile of his.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have class?" Alfred asked. He didn't remember of Ivan was in his afternoon class today, but he'd never heard Ivan mention he lived close by Alfred.

"No, I am going to run errands," Ivan said.

"Are you getting on?" the bus driver asked Alfred, looking impatient.

"Yeah," Alfred said quickly and began stepping onto the bus – only to stop at another shout from behind him.

"Alfred! You forgot your keys…" Arthur was jogging up to them and holding up the keys Alfred had forgotten to take with him. He came to a stop though, a few yards away and stood stock still, staring at something over Alfred's shoulder.

"Arthur? What's wrong?" Alfred asked, walking over to Arthur, concerned.

Arthur gave Alfred a brief glance before his gaze went right back and Alfred turned, frowning as well when he realized it was not what, but who Arthur was staring at – Ivan Braginsky.

"You are looking well, your majesty," Ivan said with that casual light tone of voice.

"What?" Alfred said, looking between Arthur and Ivan. "How do you even know that?" he demanded. _No_ one should know who Arthur was.

Arthur straightened up, the regal queen that he'd always been back in Spades. "Hello, your majesty," he answered in that polite, clipped tone of voice. "This is the King of Clubs, Alfred," he said, eyes never leaving Ivan. "Ivan, this is—"

"Your new husband, Alfred Jones," Ivan said with that same creepy smile. "I know."

* * *

><p><strong>TBC.<strong> YOU GUYS usually I am very much a review if you want to, but don't feel obligated to do it if you don't want to person, BUT omg I am waiting for this really important email right now and sort of freaking out and if you guys want to be nice, can you please take pity on me and review cause I've got notifications on so when that super important email gets here in the next couple of days, then at least it is more likely to be a review than that email and I won't bite through all of my nails at once every single time there's an email notification on my Apple Mail. Okay, this doesn't really make sense logically, does it… BUT IT IS STILL TRUE. Or if you don't want to review, you guys should just email or PM me about anything you want (preferably we can fangirl about USUK or something 8D) as long as my inbox is flooded, it is somehow less scary to me when that important email gets here. asdflj omg I swear my blood pressure just spiked through the roof at this one spam mail I just got while writing this note right now ;o;

**Anyway, GODdiggidydoodle drew gorgeous Queen of Spades fanart that you can see in profile links as usual! Thank you so much!**

**EDIT: **I GOT THE EMAIL! And it said basically "we'll get back to you in 2-3 weeks" OTL... so I may panic again then. But so for now, you can all disregard my previous note and THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO INDULGED ME AND REVIEWED OR PMed (and helped spam my inbox)! And of course thank you to everyone who was going to review anyway and all the regular reviewers! I seriously love your comments every single time and just THANK YOU SO MUCH! You're all such the nicest! ;u; ;u; /eternal gratitude


	10. Chapter 10

"So you're… who?" Alfred asked, staring between Arthur and Ivan as they all sat at the dining table in his apartment. It didn't look like Alfred would be going to class today.

"The King of Clubs," Arthur answered for Ivan. "What I want to know is what you're doing here."

Alfred abruptly found himself feeling very much the way he had back in Spades.

"Much the same as you are doing here," Ivan answered. "You came to protect your kingdom, yes? So did I."

Alfred was just trying to wrap his mind around everything. "What? You're married too?" First of all, this was Ivan Braginsky – the guy who gave everyone in their classes the creeps possibly because he wore scarves even in the middle of humid English summers, possibly because he _always_ smiled – not like normal people who smiled when they were happy or amused or being polite – _always_, and possibly because he was Russian. And all right, Alfred would admit he was maybe a little biased on the last point, but hey, Hollywood did cast Russians as the bad guys all the time for a reason, right? The mere possibility that _Ivan Braginsky_ might be married was just impossible to believe.

"No," Ivan said.

"Then how did you wake?" Arthur asked, frowning.

Ivan shrugged. "I do not know," he said mildly.

"Wait, but you've been here for a couple of semesters, right?" Alfred asked, trying to remember just when Ivan had started coming to school – it had definitely been before he'd seen Arthur at the castle a second time. This did explain a lot about why the King of Clubs had never appeared even for the wedding ceremony.

"Less than one. You do not have a good memory, do you?" Ivan said which sounded more insulting than anything else.

"My memory is fine," Alfred snapped. "And anyway, doesn't this mean you're the enemy? Clubs is allied with Hearts."

Arthur nodded. "Yes, do explain yourself."

Ivan, however, did not look so cool anymore and his smile was gone, abruptly making him look more human all of a sudden. "Clubs is allied with Hearts?" he asked, sounding confused.

"You didn't know?" Arthur asked, frowning.

Ivan paused, and then, as quickly as it had disappeared, his smile came back. "That is why then," he murmured. "No, I did not know," he said, addressing Arthur again.

"What do you mean, you didn't know? How could you _not_ know if you're the king?" Alfred demanded.

"Do you know everything just because you are king?" Ivan said lightly.

Alfred felt Arthur stiffen beside him, but this was not the time to discuss their particular relationship. "No, but in my case, it's different," he said. "What are you here for? What do you want? You know who I am—"

"Of course I do. That suit you appeared in at the castle is very recognizable, is it not? The Spade royalty suit – a wedding outfit, if I am correct, yes?" Ivan said.

Arthur stiffened more beside Alfred, but he said nothing either.

"I knew that if the king appeared here, then there is surely a way to go back to Cards, yes?" Ivan said.

"What are you even saying?" Alfred said.

"Alfred," Arthur said shortly. "Braginsky, explain from the beginning. Just what are you doing here and what are your intentions? Make it convincing." His tone was pure ice and Alfred could tell Arthur was not exactly fond of the Clubs kingdom either.

Ivan exhaled. "It is quite simple. My kingdom, like yours I think, decided to send me somewhere safe to keep my kingdom safe as well," Ivan said. "We are allied with Diamonds to begin with so I did not want to go, but my Queen and Jack insisted," he said. "But something was wrong with the enchantment and I woke up before I should have and alone."

Arthur swallowed quite audibly next to Alfred and Alfred abruptly felt another bout of guilt though there was nothing he could do at this point without interrupting Ivan's story.

"I arrived in the kingdom you call the Rossiyskaya Federatsiya? Russia, yes?" Ivan said.

Alfred frowned. "Wait, your spell sent you to Russia? What are you doing here then?"

Ivan shot a dark look at him despite the constant smile on his face. "I had to find a way home, yes? But as I am sure the little queen knows by now, the magic in this world – if there is any at all – is not easy to learn."

"But how did you know I'd be here?" Arthur asked.

Ivan looked more amused this time. "If you are to follow your husband to the school, it is very easy to see, yes?"

Alfred wondered just how many times Ivan had been spying on them, or worse, exactly what might have happened if Alfred hadn't run into Ivan at the bus stop. He somehow doubted that Ivan coincidentally happened to be running errands at Alfred's bus stop and, inexplicably because Arthur could take care of himself at least as far as Cards and such was concerned – Alfred was glad he'd still been here especially if Ivan really had come to meet Arthur.

"That doesn't explain why you're here in England," Alfred said.

Ivan's smile stretched a little wider. "You still do not understand?" he said. "I found a lead when I was in Russia that there is a way to get back to Cards here."

"You weren't trying to—to find Arthur, were you?" Alfred asked, and found himself reaching under the table until he caught a hold of Arthur's hand.

Arthur stiffened and Alfred ignored the glance that Arthur shot him, only squeezing his slim fingers, his hand small and a little too cool – Arthur was far too thin – under the table. Up until just a few weeks ago, Arthur had been sleeping alone in that castle for decades. Alfred and his entire class had even traveled to that castle. If Alfred hadn't found Arthur first. If Ivan had gotten to Arthur before Alfred had…

Ivan actually laughed this time. "No, of course not. You do not understand Cards, do you, little king?" he said. "Our balance in the world is precarious. If everything is not just so, the entire world would fall – pardon the pun – like a stack of cards, as you say."

"What is that even supposed to mean?" Alfred asked.

"You do not need to be jealous," Ivan said.

"He means royalty can never intermarry between kingdoms," Arthur said. "I've already told you before, our kingdoms have to be balanced. Imagine what would happen if Spades and Clubs intermarried – the royalty lines would be blurred, if there was only one heir, there would be far too much power given to that one person."

Alfred frowned, still not quite understanding.

Arthur sighed and gave his hand a small squeeze. "In any case you don't need to worry about such things," he said. "We're already married." He was blushing, looking down at the table.

"So then what's so special about England that helps you?" Alfred asked.

"I have reason to think that there is someone here who knows where to find the right magic," Ivan said.

"There's no magic in this world," Arthur said, shaking his head. "I would know. I've looked."

"I am looking for an Ace," Ivan said.

Arthur's hand stiffened in Alfred's. "Bollocks, that's impossible. Aces are just a legend and everyone knows that if they did exist, it was thousands of years ago—"

"And did you not travel through time as well when you came," Ivan said. "Time travel is easy here."

Arthur's eyes widened. "Aces aren't real," he said again but he sounded less sure.

Ivan smiled and stood up. "And if Alfred is an Ace?"

"He's not," Arthur said.

"Yet he has the legendary power of an Ace," Ivan said.

Alfred glared at him, wondering just how he'd found out about that. His strength kicked in at random times, but he tried to keep it under wraps at least when he was out in public.

"I will keep you both updated on my progress," Ivan said. "I hope we can work together well, yes?"

Alfred didn't particularly want to work with Ivan the creeper, but Arthur had already nodded. "Fine. Do let us know if you find anything," he said and got up to shake Ivan's hand.

Arthur elbowed Alfred until he also extended his hand to shake Ivan's. "Then we have an alliance," Arthur said.

"Yes," Ivan said. "Good bye."

Alfred gave him the same sickly fake grin as he showed him out of the apartment.

"Braginsky," he said as Ivan walked out the door. "If I find you ever come to my home or talk to Arthur when I'm not here…" He left the threat unspoken.

Alfred's hunch was right because Ivan just smiled wider as though amused. "I hope we will be good friends," he said.

Alfred glared at him and shut the door. He wasn't sure why but he just did not like Ivan Braginsky despite him being their ally and possibly the answer to their way back. Something about Ivan Braginsky was wrong and unsettled him even more now than it had before when he hadn't known Ivan was the King of Clubs.

He found Arthur making tea with the electric kettle in the kitchen when he went back.

"Want any?" Arthur asked when Alfred walked in.

"No, I'm good," Alfred said. "Arthur, what's an Ace?"

Arthur sighed as he reached for the jar of sugar that Alfred swore he had never seen before Arthur moved in. "No one really knows," Arthur said, picking up two cubes of sugar to drop into his mug of tea. "There've been legends of them before in our history. Great warriors who appeared during times of instability."

"What did Ivan mean saying I have the strength of one?" Alfred asked.

Arthur looked up at him, meting his eyes and pressed his lips together. "The Aces had great strength, Alfred. Just like you. The legends say they were magical beings with special powers. I'm not sure how much Ivan knows about you, but if he knew about your strength…"

"And why don't you want me to be one?" Alfred asked.

Arthur busied himself stirring the tea. "I-It's not that I don't want you to be an Ace… there just haven't been any real records of them. They only appear in the legends, and of course with such things, there's so much argument and uncertainty and—"

"Just tell me the truth, Arthur," Alfred said.

Arthur bit his lip and glanced over as Alfred went to the counter to stand next to him. "The legends say… I'm sure they're not true, you know how these myths can be… but with the appearance of Aces in our world, each time they have been followed by destruction," Arthur said.

"Like war?" Alfred asked, frowning.

"No, destruction. The imbalance of our world," Arthur said and sighed. "Legends say that every time an Ace has appeared, our world has been destroyed."

"But Cards is fine. You're all fine, right?" Alfred asked. He didn't like where this was going.

"Periods of turmoil, then," Arthur said. "I'm sure your world has them too – those times in history where no one is sure exactly what happened – just a blank space with no records at all."

Alfred knew all too well with his major. Egypt for one had already three such intermediate periods between pharaohs where the history simply was not documented – blank holes in the history. The Dark Ages here in Western Europe were another that very little was known about because there weren't enough written records. Plenty of holes in history had occurred on Earth now that Alfred thought about it. Except in Spades, it seemed like the blank holes in history were far more widespread than in just one region and far more serious. And Alfred might very well become the cause of one.

"It's only a legend though, there's no need to worry," Arthur said, giving him a small smile.

"Do you think I'm an Ace?" Alfred asked. "Tell me the truth." He met Arthur's gaze and held it.

"I don't know," Arthur said finally. "But if you are an Ace, I…" He swallowed. "It'll be all right. I'll be there," he said and reached over, hesitantly, to touch Alfred's hand, still resting on the counter. His wedding ring glimmered under the warm kitchen lights.

Despite not particularly enjoying tea, Alfred liked the homely scent of it filling the kitchen and the way Arthur looked, beautiful and strong here in their home.

Alfred took Arthur's hand and gave it a small squeeze before letting go.

* * *

><p>Although things remained the same between himself and Arthur as far as their relationship went, it felt like things became tenser and more urgent ever since Ivan revealed himself as the King of Clubs. Arthur threw himself into studying even more than usual, but this time he was focused on asking questions about Alfred's occasional bouts of super strength.<p>

"If Ivan is so interested in it, there must be something he knows that we do not," Arthur said when Alfred asked him about it. "I don't trust him."

"I thought we're supposed to be allies," Alfred said.

Arthur had insisted that they had to do something to test Alfred's strength, so Alfred was currently trying to lift his refrigerator which at times, he was just able to budge, and at other times, he could lift as easily as a paperweight though it was making him a bit nervous. He didn't want to suddenly lose his super strength while he was lifting the refrigerator and have it crush his hands on its way down.

"We are. And?" Arthur said.

"So… we should be able to trust him, right?" Alfred said. He realized how stupid that sounded right after he'd said that. After all, his own queen and jack had plotted to kill him though now, Alfred was really beginning to wonder if Arthur had planned on following through with it. Arthur was still wearing the wedding ring, and every so often, Alfred would catch him staring at Alfred with a spacey expression on his face.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Of course not. This is politics. You can't trust anyone – and Ivan has… he's never had a good reputation even back in Cards."

"Really?" Alfred said, trying to think back to what he'd learned about Clubs back when he'd been memorizing all the facts about the different kingdoms. He didn't recall much about Ivan Braginsky that had been strange though. He had two sisters who… "Wait, he's the brother of that assassin, isn't he?"

Arthur looked impressed. "You remember," he said. "Yes – he's the brother of Natalya – that really should have been our first clue that Clubs allied with Hearts."

"I don't remember anything bad about Ivan though," Alfred said.

Arthur sighed, motioning for Alfred to try and lift the refrigerator again. Alfred tried and couldn't this time, waiting as Arthur made another note. Alfred wasn't sure just what knowing how long it took between his having super strength and not was supposed to tell them, but if Arthur wanted to know, then Alfred would oblige. "It's nothing really serious," Arthur said. "Just a bit of tragedy within that family. They were biological siblings but not actually related to the last King of Clubs – a man named Winter," Arthur said.

Alfred nodded. He remembered memorizing that part. "Yeah, he was known as General Winter, right? And he found the Braginsky siblings and adopted them – he chose Ivan as the heir to the throne even though he was the middle child."

"Do you remember where Winter found them?" Arthur asked. "Lift it again."

Alfred shook his head as he tried lifting the refrigerator again. This time it went easily, but before he'd gotten it an inch off the ground, the strength suddenly left his arms and he barely got the refrigerator back down. He shook his arms, wincing.

Arthur made another note on his paper. "It was on one of his campaigns," Arthur said. "Clubs has always had a bit of history for being one of the more…unstable kingdoms," he said. "Their royal families tend to fight amongst each other just to try and get the throne—"

"I thought the heir had to be chosen by the last royalty member or else through marriage," Alfred said, leaning against the refrigerator as he waited for Arthur's signal again.

"Yes, but there's no end to the things one could do to make a royalty member choose an heir," Arthur said matter-of-factedly.

Alfred remembered Arthur's own circumstances and how he'd gotten to be the queen.

"Anyway, the Braginsky family had been mostly killed off in one of their internal battles when Winter found them and brought them into his family. Winter had no heir himself, of course, and he never married," Arthur said.

Alfred nodded thoughtfully. "What does that have to do with Ivan though? That's good luck for him."

"Having your parents killed at an early age and then being trained to become the next king? If you think you had it rough in the month you were in Spades, imagine an entire childhood that way," Arthur said and shook his head. "Anyway, it didn't really surprise anyone that Ivan was a bit unstable. Heavens knows how many of us warned Winter not to give Ivan the throne."

"So what did Ivan do?" Alfred asked.

"Well, you remember how one of the king's main jobs is to deal with the international relations?" Arthur said and gestured for Alfred to pick up the refrigerator again.

Alfred did so quite easily this time and put it down without breaking a sweat at all.

"Ivan never did," Arthur said.

"What does that mean?' Alfred asked, frowning.

"I mean he kept his kingdom in a virtual state of isolation since he took the throne," Arthur said. "The most he's ever done is appear for an event every so often – the last was Lili Zwingli – the Queen of Diamonds – her coronation," he said. "But he's never dealt any hand in international politics. Rumours are that he doesn't trust anyone at all – not even his own sisters."

"What? Well what about the treaty? Didn't Diamonds and Clubs have an alliance?" Alfred asked.

"They did – all alliances were made before Ivan's time. That particular alliance was between Winter and Francis when he first took the throne," Arthur said. "Lift it one more time," he said to Alfred.

The refrigerator lifted up easily again and then Alfred put it back down, stretching and hoping he hadn't damaged his refrigerator with all the lifting.

"That's part of why we were all a bit surprised when Clubs actually held to the alliance when Hearts first declared war on Diamonds," Arthur continued as he made more notes. "Of course it was probably less Ivan honouring Winter's agreement than just having sense – Hearts would have declared war on them soon enough even if they hadn't helped Diamonds."

Alfred nodded slowly as he opened the refrigerator, relieved to see that nothing had been knocked over and everything was more or less still in the right places. "But you don't trust Ivan?" Alfred said as he pulled out a Coke.

"Not before and less now that we're at war," Arthur said. "I'm not sure how much of the truth Ivan was telling when he said he didn't know Clubs had allied with Hearts. We're only in a temporary alliance to get us both back to Cards and I'm sure he knows that as well as I do."

Alfred had been thinking about this the past week or so, and now that he and Arthur were getting along better, he thought this might be a good time to broach the subject. He popped open the Coke, taking a sip, and then took a deep breath.

"Arthur, I was thinking—I'll go back to Spades with you," he said. It was still taking a risk on his part since he had no idea what Arthur really thought when it came to him – how much of it was real in their relationship, and how much was politics. Arthur had made that clear enough at least – he had no problems pretending and lying if it would serve his country. But Alfred didn't feel right about leaving Spades on their own even if he had no particular allegiance to them, and he felt even less right about letting Arthur return alone. If all was as Arthur had laid out for him, then Spades would be needing its king and Alfred had no intention of dying just so that Arthur could find a new and more fitting partner. He might not be the best king that Spades could have, but he could at least protect Arthur and hopefully any innocent people from getting involved in this war.

At least Arthur didn't immediately reject him. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," he said slowly. "It'll be too dangerous."

"I can fight fine," Alfred said.

Arthur frowned and exhaled. "It's not just that," he said. "There's also the kingdom to think of. If you are really an Ace, I'm not sure how safe it would be bringing you back." He looked pained, twisting the wedding ring again before he walked out of the room. A moment later, Alfred heard the television switch on and the sounds of the soccer game coming from the living room.

Alfred sighed and followed Arthur into the room, getting out his laptop so he could start writing up the research for Professor Germania that he was supposed to have ready by tomorrow. Arthur scooted over on the couch to make room for Alfred, giving a small sigh when Alfred sat down though he still looked stressed. Alfred was beginning to find that he really didn't like it when Arthur looked upset, and when it came to Arthur, every emotion he had was bare on his face despite Arthur denying it.

Alfred sighed and pushed his laptop away. "Hey, Arthur, want to go somewhere fun tomorrow?" he asked.

Arthur turned. "You've got classes, haven't you? And you're meeting with your important teacher."

"Yeah, but I hardly got anything done as is. I'll just reschedule it for next Thursday," Alfred said. "We can have a day off."

"Where?" Arthur asked.

Somewhere Arthur would like – fun, exciting, new…

"It's a surprise," Alfred said as he pulled open his laptop again and began looking up the right people to call for this kind of a thing. Arthur would like this.

* * *

><p>Since Alfred didn't have the proper paperwork for it in the UK, it took quite a lot of string pulling and research and asking the right people exactly where he could do this. And it took a car rental again, four hours of driving to the middle-of-nowhere – literally, even the GPS had no idea where they were – when they finally arrived at the farm and Alfred helped Arthur out of the car to wade into snow about knee-high.<p>

"Why on _earth_ are we here?" Arthur said, his teeth chattering as he huddled more in his thick coat, looking a combination of miserable and curious.

"You'll like this," Alfred said eagerly as he helped Arthur tramp through the snow up the just-visible walkway to the farmhouse that was brightly lit inside.

A bearded man wearing about five woolen sweaters opened the door and burst into a grin, seeing Alfred. "You the kid that wants the range?" he asked.

"Alfred," Alfred introduced himself and shook the man's hand.

The farmer clapped Alfred on the shoulder. "Come in, come in. We got it all set up in the barn," he said and then it was trooping through the house, through the back door, and down another snow-laden field to the barn.

"So you don't get in trouble for it?" Alfred asked, making conversation as they went.

"Look around," the farmer said, grinning. "There isn't anyone out here but us." He opened the barn door and revealed what was a surprisingly neat shooting range complete with paper targets and fluorescent lighting.

"You can use anything you find in the barn. Just come back in and let us know when you're done," the man said as Alfred paid him and then left them alone in the barn.

"Where are we?" Arthur asked, frowning as he looked around, still hunched with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"You'll see," Alfred said, looking around the barn until he'd found the earmuffs and then shoved a pair over Arthur's ears.

Arthur struggled a little. "What the bloody hell is—"

"Earmuffs. Trust me, you have to wear them or you'll go deaf," Alfred said.

"What?" Arthur shouted. "I can't hear a word you're saying."

Alfred pried one half of the earmuff off. "You need to wear these or you'll go deaf," he said, grinning as he handed over a pair of safety goggles as well.

"What for?" Arthur asked.

Alfred grinned as he went to the next wall over and took a look at the selection the illegal shooting range had. There were mostly handguns, a few old rifles, and then Alfred got distracted because right there in the corner was a rocket launcher. A real honest-to-god rocket launcher. Who the _hell_ actually owned a rocket launcher?

Alfred picked that one up and got even more excited when he saw there actually were missiles he could launch. Okay, this probably didn't qualify as shooting a gun anymore, but minor details – if this was all stuff Alfred was allowed to use, then he was going to use it.

"C'mere," Alfred said, checking the rocket launcher, which actually looked surprisingly neat and cared for even though he couldn't imagine the people out here actually using it very often. Then again, they did keep a rocket launcher so what did he know?

Alfred loaded it up and shouldered it, gesturing for Arthur to follow him out of the barn and back out into the snowy fields. There was nothing around the farmhouse for miles around except for a few trees out in the distance so even if Alfred set it off, it didn't look like he could do much damage.

The farmer who seemed to have just reached his house door again turned and Alfred gestured to the rocket launcher just in case he wasn't supposed to use it. The farmer grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up. "All you kids like that one. Just be careful with it," he called.

The UK was awesome, Alfred decided. For a place that had so many strict rules about firearms, they sure were good at breaking them.

"Hey, Arthur, watch this," Alfred said, putting on a pair of his own goggles and earmuffs before glancing over to make sure Arthur's eyes were most definitely on Alfred before he shouldered the thing, planted his stance, and aimed for sky in the distance about a half mile away down in the fields.

Then he let it rip.

The blast from the rocket launcher literally shook the ground, vibrating right through his feet, and sending a small explosion of earth and snow up a distance away.

"That was _awesome_," Alfred said, once he'd recovered.

Arthur simply stared speechless at the hole the rocket launcher had blasted.

Alfred beamed at him.

"Can I try?" Arthur asked, starry-eyed as he reached for the rocket launcher.

"That's for professionals," Alfred said, grinning and ignored Arthur's enamored looks at the rocket launcher as he led the way back into the barn so Arthur could have some fun. He set the rocket launcher back down and picked up a new gun.

"You get to use this," Alfred said and held out the basic 22 caliber handgun – small and light and decently easy to work with.

Arthur all but began pouting. "What? That's bloody unfair," he protested.

"No it's not. I've been holding guns since I could walk," Alfred said. "You didn't even know they existed until that movie last week."

Arthur grumbled but held his hand out for the gun.

"Whoa there, not so fast," Alfred said. "These things are dangerous if you don't know how to use them," he said, holding the gun out of reach. "Safety first – okay, so how these things work is that basically it shoots a very fast bullet—"

"What's a bullet?" Arthur asked.

"Uh… it's like an arrow. But causes a lot more damage," Alfred said.

Arthur nodded.

"Anyway, I guess the basic principles are the same," Alfred said. "Be careful with it, treat every firearm as if it were loaded, and always keep your finger off the trigger and the gun pointed in a safe direction."

"I _have_ shot people before, Alfred," Arthur said dryly. "Just show me how to use it."

"Okay, come on we have to work on how to hold it first," Alfred said, and gestured for Arthur to come over.

The rest of the afternoon was spent between Alfred showing Arthur the way guns fired, and how to hold them in the correct stance. Arthur wasn't exactly terrible at the whole thing – he caught on to the concepts fast enough, and he was already an excellent marksman. But every time Alfred tried to get him to stand on his own without Alfred behind him and bracing him, Arthur was still caught by surprise when the gun recoiled.

Still, by the time they had left the illegal shooting range, Arthur was rosy with cheerfulness, and he passed out dead asleep approximately five minutes into the car ride back so Alfred considered it a day well spent.

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, the one relaxing day they had was immediately ruined when Ivan abruptly showed up at Alfred's apartment the next day and Alfred didn't discover it until he'd gotten home after school and found Ivan and Arthur discussing things over tea.<p>

"Welcome home, Alfred," Ivan said, turning when Alfred walked in. "Arthur has been telling me about your wonderful date at the gun range, yes?"

"Ivan," Alfred said and glared at him. "What are you doing here?" He hoped that his glare sent the message that he was not happy that Ivan had blatantly ignored Alfred telling him not to come without telling him.

"I heard you hadn't gone to meet Professor Germania yesterday," Ivan said simply and smiled which was utterly creepy that Ivan knew when Alfred's scheduled meetings were.

"He just got here," Arthur said and gave Alfred a tense smile. "Come, sit," he said and shook his head once when Alfred glanced at Ivan again.

Alfred slowly put down his backpack and went to sit next to Arthur. "All right. So what do you want?" he asked Ivan.

"I have been studying science," Ivan said.

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "You're an archaeology student too, aren't you?"

"Yes, but science – I think it is the key to our problems. Science here is like magic, yes?" Ivan said. "In your history, the things that people in history thought was magic long ago – it is actually science."

"Yeah…?" Alfred said slowly.

"So I think perhaps science may be the answer to winning the war," Ivan said. "Arthur has been telling me about your super strength. It is likely an amplification of your strength here when you cross over to Spades just like all the other Aces."

Alfred frowned, shooting a glance at Arthur who ignored him. For someone who had been warning Alfred about not trusting Ivan, Arthur had sure told a lot to Ivan – either that or Ivan had been over at their apartment for a very long time.

"Well that's not going to do you much good. Even if you go back, you're from Cards," Alfred said.

"That is true, unfortunately," Ivan said. "But if we bring other people over from Earth, we can make an army—"

"Don't even think about kidnapping anyone," Alfred said.

"Who said anything about kidnap?" Ivan said. "I am sure there are some who would be interested to visit another world even to fight, yes?"

"Drop it, Ivan," Alfred said, glaring him down across the table.

Ivan laughed. "It is just a joke, little king," he said. "But the principle is the same. Perhaps if something in people is made powerful when it is in Cards, then other things will also be amplified if we bring them over," he said. "Weapons, for example. The blades here may pierce a thousand times better than they can in Cards. Or perhaps those guns that Arthur has been telling me about? Just one or two of those could—"

"What we want to know is how to get back," Alfred said, ignoring Ivan's rambling. "Who knows what's going on there by now, and there's the whole time gap problem."

The biggest question Alfred actually had was why everything seemed to be going wrong. From the very beginning, none of the magic that either Arthur or Ivan had claimed they'd done had been working properly. From the very first time Alfred had seen Arthur in the castle when he was just ten years old, things hadn't been going according to plan. Arthur had woken without being kissed, and apparently gone right back into sleep. When Alfred did kiss him, more than a decade later, it had taken them to five days after Yao's original spell on Arthur even though Arthur was supposed to have stayed asleep for thousands of years. Ivan who had been under the same spell had woken by himself months ahead of Arthur. Then, despite no magic existing on Earth, Alfred still had occasional bouts of his super strength and Arthur had the spade time clock that still worked on occasion as well.

"I think…I think something has gone wrong," Arthur said. "In Cards, I mean."

Both Alfred and Ivan turned to look at him. "What?" Alfred asked.

"You remember when I was telling you about the balance of Cards?" Arthur said, glancing at Alfred before staring back down at his mug of tea, his hands cupped around it. "I don't think it's Earth that's changing things – it's got to be our world. Hearts has imbalanced things, somehow. It must be," he said.

"We do not know that yet," Ivan said.

"No, but it's a high probability. They declared war months ago and began taking over Diamonds and Clubs," Arthur said, ignoring the flash of a dark shadow that passed over Ivan's face at that. "The kingdoms can't be taken over that way or the balance will be upset."

"You are saying that Hearts really has imbalanced Cards and it is affecting us here on Earth," Ivan said, and this time, he actually looked worried.

"It's a high possibility," Arthur said, sounding more sure of himself. "After all, what else could it be? Your spell might have interfered with mine, I suppose – but then what would have caused yours to malfunction?" he said, gesturing to Ivan. "And you said you woke up months ago…"

"Three years, actually," Ivan said.

Alfred turned to stare at Ivan. "Three years?" he said. "What were you doing all that time?"

"It is not so easy to learn how your world works, yes?" Ivan said. "And even longer to figure out where the clues are to lead back home."

Alfred saw Arthur flinch out of the corner of his eye again.

"You never did tell us what you found here that can lead you home," Alfred said instead.

"It is our professor, Vortigern Germania," Ivan said and began smiling again. "When I was still in Russia, I came across some of his publications – especially related to ancient kingdoms—"

"Ancient civilizations have nothing to do with Cards," Alfred said.

Ivan shook his head, still smiling. "Ah, but do they not sound similar to Cards?" he said. "You must have seen – our castles are built like medieval ones, our cities are like the ancient walled cities, our technology is like your medieval ones as well, and yet our people are not – fashions, food, are from different centuries and different countries here—"

"What does that have to do with the professor?" Alfred asked.

"Have you read all of his publications and dissertations?" Ivan said.

"Not all," Alfred admitted. He'd read Professor Germania's most well known things, of course, which generally related to old western European civilizations like, hilariously enough, old Germania.

"They are nearly all about one or another of the things found in Cards," Ivan said. "The subjects he chooses and the research is about those things." He smiled. "I suspect that Vortigern Germania knows of Cards and is doing all this research to find a way there."

Arthur shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. Even if a professor from this world did know about Cards, why on earth would he want to find a way there?"

"Why else would he be doing research into these subjects?" Ivan said. "It must be in order to find a clue between how our worlds are connected. What sorts of things seep into that world, and what from there comes over here. I suspect Cards is where your playing cards got the idea, yes?" he said to Alfred.

"Maybe," Alfred said. He hated to agree with Ivan but he was right on this one point. "There's no point in doing research if you don't want to find a way back." As far as archaeology went, of course there was no way to actually time travel to that time period, but you could get as close as possible by reconstructing what it was like. If there was a way back, any archaeologist would want to find that method. "_If_ he really is from Cards," he said.

"So you will have no problems asking the professor during your next meeting with him, yes?" Ivan said.

Alfred stopped. "What?"

"You have scheduled a meeting with him next Thursday. You can ask him then," Ivan said.

Alfred folded his arms. "Why don't you ask him yourself? He's your professor too, isn't he?"

Ivan shook his head. "It is no use. I have already asked him and he persists in lying to me – he will not admit that he knows of Cards."

"Well maybe he really doesn't," Arthur said.

Ivan's smile dropped a few degrees and the room seemed to get colder. "He does. Ask him," he said and then pushed back his chair and stood up again. "I will come again on Friday. Have the answer by then."

Then he was gone and Alfred found himself double-locking the doors even though he was sure he could more than defend himself and Arthur against Ivan, and even though Ivan didn't seem to want to cause them any harm. Ivan Braginsky just gave him goose bumps – if Professor Germania knew anything, it was no wonder he wouldn't tell Ivan.

"Let's go out," Alfred said, turning back to Arthur who seemed to be making himself yet another cup of tea.

"What for?" Arthur asked.

He showed no sign of being intimidated by Ivan except for the speed he was drinking his tea at.

"We're getting you a cell phone," Alfred said. "Just in case."

Just in case Ivan visited while Alfred was gone again and Arthur needed help. Arthur could probably take care of himself well enough, but Alfred would appreciate knowing that he was a phone call away in case he did need Alfred.

* * *

><p>On Thursday, Alfred went to meet Professor Germania for his paper.<p>

"Mr. Jones, just how long did you spend working on this?" Professor Germania said and raised an eyebrow when he handed over his copy of Alfred's research.

Alfred grinned, sheepish. "Uh…"

They were meeting in the professor's office that was actually incredibly neat for a university professor. He had nothing on his desk beyond a lamp, a pen, and a pack of playing cards along with Alfred's half-assed research.

Professor Germania let out a sigh and leaned back in his seat. "If you couldn't finish it on time, you should have called to reschedule instead of wasting both of our time."

"Yeah, but I already did that last week…" Alfred said, wincing. Since the main point of the meeting was to find out what the professor knew of Cards anyway, Alfred had ended up spending more time helping Arthur out with his research than doing Alfred's own. His thesis was not exactly top priority now that magic was supposedly leaking and there was a war going on in Cards and everything.

"I take it you came to see me about something else then." Professor Germania sat back.

"Uh… sort of," Alfred said and debated how to best broach the topic of a whole different world that wasn't even a particularly believable one considering the sort of anachronisms Spades seemed to be made of. "You know Braginsky?" he said.

If what Ivan had said was true, then Professor Germania might already know what Alfred was supposed to talk to him about.

Professor Germania only looked more unimpressed. "Of course I do," he said.

Clearly, Germania was not going to take the bait so Alfred decided to just be blunt. "Have you ever heard of a world called Cards?" He plowed on when Germania only raised his eyebrow a little higher. "I have a friend who is stuck here," he said.

"Braginsky?" Professor Germania said.

"No, Arthur. Arthur Kirkland," Alfred said. "You probably don't know him, but he's from this other world and he needs to get back." He was going to sound like such an idiot if Professor Germania didn't know about Cards.

"And you think I could help you why?" Professor Germania asked.

Alfred shrugged. "I dunno, Braginsky said you might know of it and uh… you might know a way to get there? There's a war going on, and actually I need to go back too – I kind of became the king by accident."

Professor Germania just gave Alfred a long look before he let out a sigh. "Mr. Jones, that was quite possibly the worst explanation and argument I have ever heard anyone present to me, and I hope that your final thesis does not turn out the same level of coherency you just presented me."

Alfred gave him a sheepish grin. "Does that mean you know about Cards and everything?" he asked. "Braginsky was right?"

Professor Germania gave an even longer sigh. "Tell me, just what is your relation to the whole situation and then I'll decide if I will help you."

Alfred was a bit stunned that Ivan Braginsky had actually been reliable about this and Professor Germania might really know something. Now that he thought about it though, it was Professor Germania who had helped brush off Alfred's wedding suit as a joke when he came out of the castle wearing it. The professor also hadn't batted an eyelash when he ran into Alfred and Arthur checking out those books on magic in the library that time either. He really did know something – Alfred just hoped it included a way to get back to Spades.

Alfred then spent the next three hours – far past their meeting was supposed to run – telling Professor Germania everything that had happened between Alfred meeting Arthur for the first time to them traveling back to England. It wasn't entirely of Alfred's own volition because he'd tried to leave out all the bits about kissing Arthur and so on – really, his professor did not need to know the details of his private life – but Germania had a knack for asking the most revealing questions so that the entire thing became more like an extended interrogation than anything else.

"You did kiss Arthur Kirkland back at the castle when you came back but nothing happened," Professor Germania said.

"Yes," Alfred said, his face burning.

"And you said Arthur Kirkland has been making observations of the intervals between the time the magic kicks in and when it doesn't," Professor Germania said.

"Yes," Alfred said. "But it hasn't really helped. I mean, Arthur still hasn't found anything useful for magic."

Professor Germania just nodded. "When you kissed him at the castle, did you take notice of whether the clock was working at the time or not?"

Alfred shrugged. "I don't know, it kicks in kind of randomly and I uh, I kissed him several times."

Professor Germania looked thoughtful. "Several times – enough that you're certain at least one of those occurred when the clock _was_ working?" he asked.

"I don't know. I can ask Arthur," Alfred said, fidgeting under the scrutiny. He kind of really wished they could stop talking about this now.

Professor Germania did not help when all he did was stare at Alfred in silence. "I would like to meet your husband," he said after a moment.

"Arthur, you mean?" Alfred asked.

Professor Germnia raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

Alfred gave up. "When? That means you'll help us, right?" he asked.

"I'll consider it when I've met Arthur Kirkland," Professor Germania said. "And as soon as possible."

"I can call him now and have him come over," Alfred said. Arthur had taken the city bus enough times to know how to use it alone by now and frankly, Alfred was quite willing to sacrifice Arthur to Professor Germania's interrogation if it meant Alfred could get out of it.

"Very well," Professor Germania said so Alfred dialed Arthur's cell.

"Hello? Alfred? Are you all right?" Arthur said when he picked up on the first ring like he'd been waiting for a call.

Alfred could hear the drone of the television in the background. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just meeting with Professor Germania, you know," he said. "Uh, actually, can you come over? To the school?"

"Oh, all right," Arthur said. He sounded mostly relieved. "Does he really know a way back?"

"I don't know yet," Alfred said, lowering his voice as he darted a look back at Germania who was absently flipping through the pack of playing cards on his desk, and politely pretending he couldn't hear what Alfred was saying. "But I told him everything and he wants to meet you."

"All right," Arthur said after a moment. "All right. You're at your school?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you at the gate," Alfred said. "Call me when you get here."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit." Arthur hung up.

"He's coming," Alfred said, putting his cell phone away again.

Professor Germania nodded. "Tell me again about the Jack of Hearts. You said his brother was kidnapped by Diamonds?"

So Alfred went through what he knew of the political situation again as they waited for Arthur to show up.

When he got Arthur's call again twenty minutes later, he went down and met Arthur just as he was coming up to the gate of the school, dressed in his winter coat and flushed from cold.

"Call me next time you're going to be out so late," Arthur said as soon as he saw Alfred.

Alfred grinned. "Were you worried?" he asked.

He couldn't see Arthur's expression in the dark, but Arthur elbowed him. "I wasn't," Arthur said, clearly a lie.

"I think we might have a real chance here," Alfred told him. "He's been quizzing me all afternoon about everything that happened. He knows a lot about Cards."

"All right," Arthur said and drew himself up the way Alfred was beginning to recognize as somewhat of an informal battle stance that Arthur took when he was taking on all the responsibilities of a queen. Alfred had never noticed it as much before when they were in Spades, but of course there, Arthur had been in the public eye nearly every part of the day. He was rarely ever relaxed when he was in Spades, Alfred realized.

Professor Germania was still sitting at his desk when Alfred opened the door and let Arthur in ahead of him.

"Good evening," Arthur said politely as soon as he saw Professor Germania.

Interestingly enough, Professor Germania who was not exactly known for a sense of humor, broke into a small smile when he saw Arthur. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Arthur Kirkland. It would be my honor to take guidance from you."

Alfred watched Arthur's eyes widen in surprise as he gave a short nod back. "It would be my honor to take guidance from you as well," he said, returning the traditional greeting of Cards. There was no doubt now that Professor Germania definitely did know of the other world.

"I understand from Alfred that you are now the Queen of Spades," Professor Germania said.

"I am," Arthur said like it was a challenge.

"Please have a seat," Professor Germania said, gesturing to the chairs by his desk as Alfred took the seat he had been sitting in before and Arthur sat down next to him.

"Alfred told me you know how to get to Spades," Arthur said. "We need to go back and if you know the way, then—"

Professor Germania held up a hand, cutting Arthur off, and Alfred stifled a laugh at how disgruntled Arthur looked at that. "First things first," he said. "Tell me about how Spades has been for the last thousand years," he said.

"Professor?" Alfred asked, staring at his professor who was openly smiling now.

"It's been so long since I last heard anything about my kingdom," Professor Germania said.

And Alfred abruptly put the pieces together – Germania's name, his areas of expertise, everything. "You aren't researching a way to get to Cards – you've been there already. You're an Ace," Alfred said, eyes widening. "You're one of those super old guys Arthur said the legends talked about from before the first king uh, first recorded king," he said.

"That's impossible," Arthur said, shooting a glance at Alfred. "Don't be ridiculous. That would make him thousands of years old."

"Yeah, but we time traveled too – what's to say he couldn't," Alfred said.

Professor Germania looked amused. "Indeed," he said. "Although I didn't know that we now have a title for travelers like me. An Ace, eh?" He picked out the Ace of Spades from the pack of playing cards. "Interesting."

* * *

><p>Alfred had never sat in a professor's office for more than three hours before – this next talk lasted right up to midnight.<p>

It turned out that indeed, Professor Germania was an Ace – or as he said himself, someone from Earth who had found his way to Cards a very long time ago and that he had also ended up in Spades. About a thousand times stranger was that Professor Germania had not been from the 21st century like Alfred at all, but from actual Germania.

"Wait, so you're saying you are earlier than the Roman Empire?" Alfred said. Okay, he could believe time travel, but this was more than ridiculous. It was one thing for people to time travel from Cards – that was all magic anyway – but _actual_ time travel? From thousands of years ago?

"The Roman Empire existed by then, Mr. Jones, as you should know from my classes," Professor Germania said pointedly.

Alfred gave him a sheepish grin.

"Although I was actually a soldier from a tribe living around what you know as Germany now, I suppose," he said. Suddenly a lot of the things Professor Germania knew, his areas of expertise, and even his hair style – it all made a lot more sense.

"But they all speak English in Spades," Alfred said. "You didn't back then. English didn't even exist yet."

"And it did not in Spades either," Professor Germania said. "As I was saying, it was quite a surprise. It was at the time of a war as well," he said.

Then he went into possibly the most boring rendition of any war Alfred had ever heard that included so many names and dates and places that it made Alfred's head spin. Really, Alfred did not need to know how many troops were involved in which battalions although Arthur seemed to find the mini history lesson the most fascinating thing he'd ever heard.

The main points seemed to be that Germania, and another man called Julius Vargas who was apparently from the Roman Empire at the time, were both Aces. Germania had a theory that the two of them had more or less doomed all of Cards because not only were they two Aces, but they were two Aces who been in the same kingdom.

"And you and Julius Vargas fought for the throne? What happened?" Arthur asked.

"Well, I'm not proud of what happened next. The entirety of Cards took sides – half by me, and half by Julius," Professor Germania said. "And as you should well know, Cards must be balanced and that set it over."

"What happened?" Alfred asked, frowning.

Professor Germania shook his head. "I have no idea," he said. "We campaigned for months and things only fell apart more and more. The last thing I remember was a battle in the place you call the Land of the Jokers now," he said. "I'm sure by the end, I was on the brink of death. And when I woke up again, I was here."

"Here?" Alfred asked.

"In the 20th century," Professor Germania said. "I did arrive years ago – actually, I'd say it was around the time you met Arthur when you were a child," he said to Alfred.

"You're saying you're the reason that Arthur woke up without a kiss when I was ten years old?" Alfred asked.

Professor Germania shrugged. "I don't know. It's theory," he said. "Anyway, I'd ended up in Germany again but several thousand years later."

"And then you became a professor?" Alfred said, incredulous. "After all of that?"

Professor Germania gave a small chuckle. "What better person to teach history than one who has been through it?" he said.

There wasn't much arguing with that.

"Are you saying there _is_ a way back to Cards then?" Arthur asked.

Professor Germania's face turned serious again. "I do not know," he said. "Frankly, I never thought that Cards still existed after I died there," he said. "You have to understand, by then, everything was ruined – the land, the weather, the people – everything was falling apart. I didn't think anything _could_ possibly exist after that. We were stubborn then," he said. "But you – you may still have a way to save Cards from falling this time."

Arthur frowned. "But if you don't know how to get back…"

"I said I wasn't sure," Professor Germania said. "I've never tried again, but now…" He took a deep breath.

"I will see what I can do for you," he said. "There may be a possibility. The first time I went there…"

"How?" Alfred asked.

"Patience," Professor Germania said. "Take your husband home now and I will see you again in class next week. I will let you know when I am more sure."

Arthur nodded as they all got to their feet. A glance at his watch said that it was now nearly two in the morning which first, explained why Alfred was absolutely starving, and second, why he was about as tired as he was excited and hopeful that they were finally getting somewhere.

"One last thing," Professor Germania said as Alfred helped Arthur into his coat again. "You say you are now allied with Ivan Braginsky?"

"What of it?" Arthur said.

"Do not tell him about this meeting," Professor Germania said. "There is something about that boy that is not quite right."

"He gives you the creeps too?" Alfred asked.

Professor Germania only looked severely at him. "Clubs has allied with Hearts, you say. What makes you think that Ivan Braginsky does not have his own agenda in this world?"

Alfred remembered the way Ivan had been talking about bringing people and weapons into Cards and he had no doubt that Professor Germania was right.

"We won't tell him anything," Arthur said.

"Good," Professor Germania said. "Then I will be in contact. And Mr. Jones, I do expect your research to be actually prepared the next time we meet."

Alfred grinned and saluted him. "Sure thing," he said.

He was feeling a lot more cheerful about everything in general when they finally left even though they had to call a taxi to get back – none of the city buses ran this late.

"It looks like we're really finally getting somewhere," Alfred commented as they stood by the road, waiting for the taxi to show up.

Arthur nodded but oddly, he didn't seem so much excited as subdued. He shifted to stand a little closer to Alfred.

"Cold?" Alfred asked. He debated for a moment if he should, and then put an arm around Arthur's shoulders, drawing him close.

Arthur fidgeted a bit, but didn't actually say anything or struggle away, so Alfred kept it there.

"What's wrong?" Alfred asked after a moment.

There wasn't much traffic at this time of night though the occasional car sped by and a few drunken students walked by on the other side of the street.

"Nothing," Arthur said. "There's just… there's still so much to your world I haven't seen yet," he said after a moment.

Alfred smiled though he supposed that was true. After they returned to Spades, who knew what would happen. And if the war ended and Alfred could come back to Earth safely, there was no way Arthur could with his responsibilities. He had loyalty to Spades unlike Alfred who'd been dragged into the kingdom in a whirlwind of events and didn't even know most of his own people much less hold any loyalty for them. This was probably the only time Arthur would ever be here on Earth and the only time, Alfred thought, that Arthur could ever really enjoy himself as a person and not the Queen of Spades.

"I'll take you anywhere you want to go," Alfred said. "We still have at least the weekend until I see Professor Germania again. "Where do you want to go? I'll take you tomorrow."

Arthur leaned in a little closer to Alfred. "We shouldn't. We just went to the shooting range last week and I know you aren't that wealthy. I wouldn't want you to be penniless when you come back again," he said and smiled. "Anyway, we haven't got the time. There's research to be doing."

Still, Alfred thought as he pulled Arthur closer to him, he just wanted Arthur to be happy.

* * *

><p>Despite the urgency of returning to Spades, and the additional not-really-a-threat-but-feeling-like-one-anyway threat of Ivan Braginsky hanging over them, Alfred found himself constantly distracted from it every time he spent an extended amount of time with Arthur.<p>

Even though they couldn't really afford to take any longer daytrips, Arthur wouldn't have much time in England anymore, so instead of sticking around to meet with Ivan, Alfred put his cell phone on silent and ignored the twenty phone calls from Ivan – he didn't even want to know when the creep had gotten a hold of his number. Then he made Arthur pack a picnic basket to take on a bus ride to the nearest coast. Since they had taken a few walks in the bordering countryside before and Arthur seemed to find it absolutely fascinating that nature on Earth came in all different shades instead of the color-coded kingdoms in Cards, Alfred wanted to take Arthur to the beach.

Arthur adored the fishing village they ended up at and poked through all the little art galleries there which Arthur seemed to find as amusing as the art offended him.

"These things are not art," he said, gesturing to a set of rather Cubist-inspired, pastel-colored paintings.

"It is now," Alfred said. "Who knows, with your world – this might be all the rage in Spades a year from now."

Arthur looked appalled. "Spades has much better taste than to call mere lines on canvas any sort of art," he said.

"Hey, you know what that's supposed to be?" Alfred said when he noticed the small label stating the name, "Unicorn and Fairy – that's what this painting is called."

"There is no way that's a unicorn and fairy," Arthur said, staring even more incredulously at the pink and blue lines.

"It says so right there," Alfred said, grinning.

And regardless of his complaints, they walked out of the art gallery with three postcard prints that Arthur happily put away.

Arthur adored the ocean even though it was dark and gloomy and looked like rain as it nearly always did in England, of course – even worse at this time of year when it was winter and the ocean was black and turbulent. Still, after they'd set out their picnic sheet on the cool, dry sand – obviously they were the only people stupid enough to come out to the ocean at this time of year – Arthur went running off down the small beach to pick up pretty pebbles in the sand.

"It's _beautiful_ here," Arthur said when Alfred went to join him.

"Really? It's kind of gloomy and miserable, isn't it?" Alfred said.

"No, that's what's so lovely," Arthur said. "It's never like this in Cards – I've been sailing our seas since before I became Queen," he said. "We never have any bad weather."

"Never?" Alfred asked. He hadn't been in Spades for very long but he really didn't recall any bad weather. On occasion it had rained, but never anything worse. He'd just assumed it might have been the season there or something, though.

"We haven't got much variety in Cards," Arthur said.

"I thought it was amazing," Alfred said, honest for once. He actually hadn't been able to be as properly fascinated by Spades when he'd arrived because they'd immediately plunged right into training and of course, Alfred couldn't look like an idiot with the act he'd been putting up, so he'd never gotten to properly explore.

"It gets monotonous, I suppose," Arthur said with a small shrug. "But your world is huge, isn't it? You've got everything here – colors, people, places – even your art is strange."

"We don't have everything," Alfred said but he swelled with pride. And Arthur had only seen England so far – if he had the money, he'd take Arthur anywhere in the world just to see him so wide-eyed with curiosity and wonder.

"More than Cards will ever have," Arthur said, sounding a bit wistful, and then stuck a rock in Alfred's hand and began pulling off his shoes and running toward the surf.

"It's freezing in there, Arthur!" Alfred shouted.

Arthur grinned at Alfred, mischievous, and threw a shoe at him.

Alfred dodged it and sprinted after Arthur, kicking sand up after him as he ran, pulling off his own tennis shoes and socks to toss on the beach as he did. He caught up with Arthur just as Arthur stepped into the water, and then the surf washed over Alfred's feet and he shrieked too.

"Blooody hell, fuck!" Arthur cursed, stumbling back onto Alfred.

"That is _fucking cold_!" Alfred shouted as he caught Arthur by the shoulders and Arthur turned toward him, laughing. "I told you it'd be freezing," Alfred said. "It's winter now."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "A big boy like you afraid of a little cold?"

Alfred narrowed his eyes. "This is not just a little cold."

Arthur began grinning. "You're afraid of the cold?" he said. "Aww, and you're so—"

"If you say 'fat', you're dead," Alfred said.

Arthur's green eyes sparkled and he grinned. "Fat," he said.

Alfred charged at him, bending to scoop up the frigid water with his hands. Arthur shrieked when Alfred tossed the cold water at him, catching him full in the face so the water dripped from his hair.

"You arse!" Arthur cursed, breathless either with surprise or cold – Alfred wasn't really sure.

"You should never call a lean, mean, fighting machine like me fat," Alfred said.

"Well, mean anyway," Arthur said, eyes narrowing. "You said you're afraid of the cold?" he said, smirking.

Alfred wisely began backing up. "You wouldn't," he said.

Arthur bent and scooped up water with his hands too, and before long, they were chasing each other all over the beach, splashing and shouting and generally doing things that Arthur would probably never be caught doing as the Queen of Spades.

Alfred loved this side of Arthur that actually acted his age and was sweet and fun and _himself_ like he didn't have the huge burden of carrying the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders. He liked how Arthur leaned against him, shivering a little as he tried to massage the feeling back into his numb fingers and toes as they sat on their picnic sheet after that extremely bad idea of playing in the ocean in winter. He liked how Arthur looked so excited when Alfred took out the burnt lunch that Arthur had made for them, and he liked teasing Arthur about his bad cooking until Arthur was completely red and ranting about how it wasn't for Alfred anyway and if he didn't want any, then he could very well bugger off and leave Arthur to enjoy his perfectly delicious lunch by himself.

Alfred liked a lot of things about Arthur, he realized. And he just wished they would have more time here where Arthur could relax and enjoy himself instead of rushing back into such a dangerous war. He liked taking care of Arthur and keeping him safe and making him laugh and turn red with indignity. If only…

* * *

><p>Over the past few weeks, Arthur had gotten more used to Earth and Alfred didn't feel completely worried when Arthur began going out to shops by himself to get groceries, or visiting the local library while Alfred was at school. Instead, he found himself masochistically enjoying it when Arthur cooked because he would roll up his sleeves, unabashedly excited, and go to work with such gusto that even though his cooking felt like they were destroying Alfred's sense of taste bite by bite, he ate everything anyway. The day that Alfred, half on a whim and half as a joke, bought Arthur a frilly blue apron upon passing it in a shop, Arthur completely missed the joke that something with that much lace and frills was meant for women, and then nearly killed Alfred with how much he cooked that night.<p>

And despite their current standstill as far as either their relationship or anything else was concerned, oddly, their conversations seemed to be even more natural than they'd been in Spades and now that everything was out in the open, they could talk about nearly everything.

"Alfred? What's a Kir Royale?" Arthur asked out of the blue on Wednesday night.

"What?" Alfred said, preoccupied with the Spongebob cartoon he was watching on TV.

"A Kir Royale," Arthur repeated and pointed to an advertisement in the magazine he'd been flipping through after rolling his eyes at Alfred's taste in television.

"Uh, it's a cocktail or something. A type of alcohol," Alfred said.

"Have you ever had one?" Arthur asked, still looking far too interested.

"Not that I remember," Alfred said. He usually stuck with the basics – his friends Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, or just plain beer.

"Hmm…" Arthur said.

"Why? You want to try one?" Alfred asked.

"No, it just looks good," Arthur said.

Alfred had never really seen Arthur drink in Spades beyond the stuff they used for toasting. Spades, despite all the medieval setting stuff, actually did have an assortment of juices, teas, and clean water – a bit unexpected but kind of nice all the same.

"You have low tolerance, don't you," Alfred said and grinned when Arthur began turning red.

"I have no such thing," Arthur said, indignant.

"You do. That's why you never drink anything except your tea," Alfred said cheerfully.

"Tea is delicious!" Arthur said and whacked Alfred on the knee with his magazine. "I have perfectly good tolerance for alcohol, you git!"

"You probably get drunk off of those little girly drinks with the umbrellas and start stripping and dancing naked," Alfred said, laughing when Arthur began hitting him repeatedly with the rolled up magazine.

"I don't even know what you're talking about! I've never gotten drunk before!" Arthur shouted.

It was really too easy to get him worked up, and Arthur was incredibly cute when his face was all flushed that way.

"You so do," Alfred said. "I'll have to keep an eye on you if we ever go to a bar."

"Fuck off, you twat," Arthur snapped and whacked Alfred again with the magazine, struggling when Alfred caught his wrists.

When he was so close to him, Arthur's face adorably red and his eyes so vivid and mouth spewing off obscenities, Alfred found himself wanting to go with the flow and just kiss Arthur. If it had been anyone else, he probably would have. He and Arthur could never go down that path though. They had to return to Spades, and then who knew what would happen. And after what he'd done to Arthur, Alfred highly doubted that Arthur would be so open to anything Alfred wanted anyway.

Arthur's wedding ring knocked hard against one of Alfred's knuckles as Arthur jerked his hands back. He didn't seem to have noticed Alfred's distraction because he was stomping off to the kitchen.

"Tea is the most lovely drink there is, that's all!" Arthur shouted.

And Alfred found himself grinning and a little breathless.

He liked spending time with Arthur when Arthur was just himself and not putting up his front of power as the Queen of Spades. It was easy watching Arthur stumble out of bed in the mornings and feeling his way into the bathroom with his eyes still crusted with sleep, grimacing at his own reflection as he brushed his teeth. It was fun seeing Arthur stumble up the stairs from the Laundromat with a stack of folded clothes higher than he was and cursing up a storm whenever he accidentally walked into something else. Alfred liked coming home to see Arthur taking a nap on the couch with a book about magic splayed open on his chest, drooling a little bit. It was still adorable how unrefined of a sleeper Arthur was – for all that he was the personification of grace in his movements while he was awake, he sprawled every which way when he slept.

He liked touching Arthur – just a little like brushing his shoulder when they were both in the kitchen, pulling a piece of lint from Arthur's messy hair, putting a hand along Arthur's back when Alfred had to lean over to explain something to him. Whatever little gesture it was, Alfred liked feeling Arthur's warm skin beneath his even if all the touches were platonic.

He liked hearing Arthur's voice on the phone when Alfred called in between classes sometimes to ask if Arthur wanted him to bring anything back, but usually just to check that Arthur was fine – joke about how he hoped Arthur hadn't set the flat on fire while he was gone, that Ivan hadn't dropped by without permission. They talked about everything – how Alfred's classes had gone, or how much progress Arthur had made on the research front, or teasing Arthur about how much television he'd watched that day.

Alfred wasn't exactly sure when he began seeing Arthur really smile again, but one day he found himself grinning at Arthur who was trying to and failing to muffle his laughter at a joke Alfred had just told him, and just at the sound, Alfred felt his heart beat faster.

"You left your mobile at home today and someone named Matthew called," Arthur said lightly to Alfred when he walked in the door Thursday afternoon after meeting with Professor Germania who had told Alfred he was making progress but refused to tell him anything else.

"Mattie? Did he say for what?" Alfred asked.

"Who is he?" Arthur asked, looking a bit less pleased. "He didn't know who I was."

"No one does, Arthur," Alfred said, grinning as he flopped back on the couch, holding out his hand so Arthur put the phone in it. "You're from another world. You don't even exist on any real records here and I can't exactly introduce you to anyone – this is my husband, the Queen of—"

"Fine! Okay!" Arthur shouted, smacking a hand over Alfred's mouth, bright red.

Alfred realized quite abruptly that Arthur didn't just seem to be upset that someone didn't know who the great Queen of Spades was, but that he might actually be jealous. Alfred pried Arthur's hand off his mouth – the one with the wedding ring still there, but grasped it lightly.

"Matthew's my brother," Alfred said. "My twin brother, actually."

Arthur jolted and stared at Alfred. "You have a brother?" he asked. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Yeah, well, it never really came up?" Alfred said and shrugged. Matthew had this way of having so little presence he had been left behind more than once on their old family vacations back when they'd still been a family. Alfred was guilty of doing such a thing more than once as well and actually he was pretty sure that most of his friends didn't know he had a twin brother.

"Oh. Well, where is he? He doesn't live with you?" Arthur asked, fidgeting. "And your parents as well. Maybe I ought to… I ought to meet them or something?"

Alfred grinned. "Impossible."

"What?" Arthur said, looking hurt. "You don't want me meeting your family?"

"You didn't exactly want me meeting yours," Alfred pointed out.

Arthur deflated. "Oh…"

"I'm just kidding. Mine isn't nearly as bad as yours," Alfred said, putting an arm around Arthur. "Well, Matthew anyway. My parents and I never even talk anymore. But it's actually impossible – he's all the way on the other side of the world and spontaneous flying costs a lot."

"Oh," Arthur said, appeased. "But if you could, would you?"

It surprised Alfred a little how eager Arthur was to meet his family especially when they weren't actually a real couple. Now that Alfred thought about it though, he did actually want to introduce Arthur to his brother at least.

"Yeah, sure. Actually, you know what," Alfred said and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Matthew's number. "Hey, Mattie!"

"Alfred?" Matthew's voice came on the other side of the phone. "Do you ever think about what time it is over here?"

"Oh yeah," Alfred said, a bit sheepish. "Did I wake you up?"

"There's a nine hour time difference, you idiot," Matthew said and yawned.

"Yeah, but you called me, right?" Alfred said.

Matthew went quiet for a moment and Alfred just imagine that spacey expression on his twin's face as he tried to remember what Alfred was talking about. "Oh yeah. Who was that answering your phone earlier?"

"Yeah, I wanted to introduce you. Hold on a moment," Alfred said and, covering the mouthpiece. "It'll take way too long to get him to believe Spades exists so just play along."

"What—"

Then Alfred put Matthew in speaker phone and set it on the table. "Hey, Matt, this is Arthur," he said.

"I-It's a pleasure to meet you," Arthur said, stammering and turning red with his eyes staring straight at the phone.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you," Matthew said, sounding awkward on the other end.

Alfred burst out laughing. "Yeah, Arthur is staying with me for awhile," he said.

"Staying with you?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, he's my uh… it's complicated," Alfred said because he couldn't exactly say Arthur was his queen, and he even less had any idea how to define his and Arthur's current relationship.

He was surprised when Arthur seemed to slump a little even though he was also sure that Arthur wouldn't exactly be happy if Alfred called him a husband or boyfriend or something – especially when their relationship was one of those few things they never discussed.

"Hey, you know how we were talking about visiting for the holidays?" Alfred said. "You should meet Arthur then."

Alfred pretended not to notice the quick, hopeful glance Arthur shot at him.

"We haven't even talked about that. You know if you want to do that, we need to plan for it soon," Matthew said. "Tickets are going to get a lot more expensive if we don't order them fast."

"Don't worry about it. I'll book tickets to get me and Arthur to your place," Alfred said. "I want to show him America anyway—"

"I'm in California now," Matthew said.

"I know," Alfred lied. He'd totally forgotten about that. "Maybe we can book a flight over to New York and D.C. too or something. National flights don't cost much."

"If you want…" Matthew said slowly.

"What's New York?" Arthur asked.

"It's a place in America – where I come from," Alfred said.

Arthur frowned. "I thought you were from England."

"What?" Matthew asked, sounding even more confused than Arthur was.

"Uh… I'll explain later. I said it was complicated," Alfred said to Matthew.

"All right…" Matthew sounded skeptical. "Al, are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

"It's a great idea. So is that it? I'll talk to you later okay?" Alfred said and hung up to Matthew's protests. He loved his brother, but explaining Arthur would take ages and at the moment, who knew if Alfred would be able to make it to America by winter break much less with Arthur in tow. In any case, Matthew had this way of rolling his eyes at everything Alfred said unless he had a very good explanation, and Alfred had the feeling that whatever Alfred might say about Spades, Matthew probably was not going to believe him until he'd had a very long talk with Arthur.

"Your brother doesn't sound anything like you," Arthur said as soon as Alfred hung up.

"Yeah, but he looks a lot like me. I have a picture of him somewhere," Alfred said, picking up his cell phone and flipping through his photo albums until he found one from the last time he'd seen Matthew. Okay, Alfred personally thought they looked quite different – Matthew with his long wavy hair and his tendency to slouch. He was also skinnier than Alfred and he was always rolling his eyes at Alfred when he wanted to go work out – the only sport Matthew cared about was hockey but he was _really_ into hockey. However, most people thought Matthew and Alfred looked so alike that when Alfred wasn't around, Matthew got mistaken for Alfred all the time.

"He really does look like you," Arthur said, sounding surprised but handed the phone back.

"Well, he's nothing like me," Alfred said.

"Thank goodness for that," Arthur said. "I don't think the world could handle more than one of you."

"That's a compliment, right?" Alfred said.

Arthur grinned and got up, stretching. "I'm going to shower," he said.

"That was a compliment!" Alfred said.

Arthur's light chuckle followed him to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>On Friday afternoon, since Arthur had wanted to try the Kir Royale and he had such a hilarious fascination with punk bands, Alfred decided to combine the two and brought back a small postcard flyer he'd seen tacked up on a bulletin board at school.<p>

"Hey Arthur—"

"Over here," Arthur said, walking out of their bedroom with Alfred's cell phone pressed to his ear. "Yes, fine, we'll meet with you—_tonight_?"

"Who is it?" Alfred asked, a bit surprised that Arthur was answering his phone. Apparently Alfred had forgotten his cell phone at home again.

"Ivan," Arthur mouthed. "He wants to meet tonight."

"We can't do tonight," Alfred said. "I'm taking you to see a concert." Then he held out the postcard for Arthur to take.

"A punk one?" Arthur said, eyes shining, and then abruptly frowned. "No, Braginsky – we can't meet tonight. Alfred and I have plans— fine, yes, we'll meet—I'm sure he didn't mean to ignore you—_good bye_, Braginsky."

He hung up with a sigh. "Why on earth did you ignore him the entire week?" Arthur asked, handing Alfred his cell phone.

Alfred shrugged. "I forgot. And anyway, there's nothing he's doing to help – Professor Germania's got that covered."

Arthur sighed. "It's not exactly working wonders for our alliance—"

"That is probably going to be dissolved as soon as we get back to Cards anyway," Alfred said and grinned, tapping on the postcard to change the subject. "Anyway, concert. There's a local band playing at one of the clubs tonight."

Arthur brightened up. "When does it start? Should we go early?" Arthur asked, his eyes sparkling. "And they'll have um, electric guitars and amp—amplifiers?" he said looking over at Alfred who nodded.

"Yeah, it'll be loud," Alfred warned him.

Arthur just looked more excited. "How long will they be playing?"

Alfred shrugged. "These things are probably an hour or two – it's usually a couple of bands."

"I should probably make dinner first," Arthur said. "Then we can get ready and go."

"Wait, first, I have something for you," Alfred said and pulled out his second surprise for the day in the form of a good-sized box which he put down on the coffee table.

"For me?" Arthur asked, coming over to stare wide-eyed at the box.

"Open it," Alfred said. He figured that since Arthur wasn't going to be here for much longer, he could afford to splurge just a little.

Arthur slowly undid the ribbon on top of the box – Alfred had gotten it gift-wrapped – and then he lifted the cover open and his eyes went wide. Neatly folded inside, was the Burberry coat that Arthur had been so fascinated with on their very first shopping trip. "Is this…?"

"You were looking at it last time, right?" Alfred said and grinned.

Arthur ran his hands down the buttons of what was probably the most expensive coat Alfred would ever buy in his life. Seriously, there went the rent for a month.

"You said you couldn't afford this," Arthur said, sounding suspiciously teary.

"Yeah, but I figure how often are you going to find Burberry in Spades," Alfred said. "You do like it, right?"

Arthur gave a small nod, still running his hands over the coat.

"Wear it out tonight," Alfred said and found himself smiling when Arthur ran to change and try on the coat.

It was an olive green coat and when Arthur came back out, rather pink in the face, Alfred gave himself a pat on the back for having chosen the exact shade that brought out Arthur's eyes. In that coat, his eyes looked even more vivid than usual.

"You should wear green more often," Alfred said leaning back to just watch as Arthur turned to peer over his own shoulder at the back of the coat. "It suits you."

"That would make me from Clubs," Arthur said, but he looked far too pleased with the coat. "Spades are always dressed in blue."

"Well, I guess we can take it back and get it exchanged—"

"No!" Arthur said too quickly. "I-I like the color," he said. "It's not the same shade as the Clubs usually wear anyway."

Alfred grinned. "If you say so," he said.

They had a short scuffle in which Alfred won the right to cook while Arthur won the right to boil water and chop things with a knife under supervision. Then after an actually delicious dinner, they headed out for the club. As a university town, Alfred's little city really wasn't terribly interesting, but with a lot of students, the clubs and bars were never at a loss for patronage.

The one the band was playing at was a small affair where the venue itself was so tiny that just about everyone was in the front row. Since the band was actually quite a popular local one, the club was surprisingly crowded and Alfred helped Arthur push their way up to the front after getting them both drinks.

Unlike the last time Alfred had gone to a bar, he actually found himself enjoying himself this time when he had Arthur leaning back against him right at the front of the short stage. When the band came on stage, Arthur screeched as loud as the other fans in the venue, drink sloshing in one hand, and Alfred had to keep a grip on him to make sure he didn't overbalance. Alfred didn't even enjoy punk music all that much, but he did like how happy it seemed to make Arthur who was bouncing on his toes along to the beat.

"This is bloody amazing!" Arthur shouted to Alfred over the music, half-turning in Alfred's arms to smile so widely at him that Alfred was pretty sure he was drunk. And Arthur hadn't even finished his third drink yet but his cheeks were already flushed red and he was unusually touchy-feeling the way he leaned in to Alfred.

"Liking it?" Alfred said right by Arthur's ear so he could hear him.

Arthur nodded and took another sip of his drink. "Fuck yeah!" he shouted at the band as they launched into yet another floor-thumping drum interlude.

Arthur seemed to give up standing on his own halfway through the night and leaned on Alfred for everything – when he wanted another drink, when he was drinking that other drink, when he was screaming encore at the band, when he was trying to incoherently sing along to the music (incoherent because obviously Arthur didn't know any of the lyrics).

"Can I have another drink?" Arthur asked, his breath coming in hot puffs against Alfred's neck where he had leaned.

Alfred found himself again wondering what Arthur really thought of him. He acted one way, and then said words that meant the opposite. Alfred couldn't understand Arthur at all or any of the things that ran through his head.

Arthur looked up at him, his eyes green and light like so many shades of green it was a forest, and then Alfred reacted just in time to grab Arthur's glass before he dropped it, and then found himself with an armful of Arthur. Arthur leaned his face into the crook of Alfred's neck and turned completely to wind his arms around Alfred, hugging him and mumbling something incoherent into Alfred's shirt.

Alfred found himself with a rather silly grin on his face as he held Arthur, looking up on the stage at the band, and wishing they could stay like this forever. He actually really did not want to go back to Spades. He wanted to stay right here on Earth with Arthur where they could be just ordinary people and become whoever they wanted to be and do whatever they wanted to do. Where freedom was everything and they could be themselves and not the King and Queen of Spades that had been forced on them. None of the monarchy that they didn't want, or the responsibilities too great for just two pairs of shoulders to carry. He wanted Arthur here to care for and keep safe and make happy this way forever. And he wanted to know the truth.

So later that night, when they finally stumbled back into the flat and Arthur had mostly sobered down but still looked happy and a bit dazed mostly, Alfred set him down on the bed and began pulling the coat off of him, undoing the buttons and zips as he went.

"Arthur?" Alfred asked.

"Hm?" Arthur said, seemingly happy to just lie back and let Alfred undress him, staring up at him without lifting a finger.

"What did you really intend to do about me?" Alfred asked slowly as he put down Arthur's shoes on the floor. He didn't quite dare look at Arthur. "Were you really going to kill me when we came back to my world?"

Alfred didn't even know he'd been holding his breath until he felt Arthur's cool fingers touch his cheek. Arthur's smile was wistful and a bit sad as he reached up, running the tips of his fingers over Alfred's jaw. "No," Arthur said. "I think you would have made a wonderful king."

"Even if I didn't?" Alfred asked. He was so worked up he was actually shaking. He hadn't even known that Arthur's answer was really this important to him but it was – Arthur was. "If I intended to leave and never be your king? Would you have killed me then?"

Arthur shook his head slowly. "I couldn't," he said after a moment. "I love you."

Just three simple words were all it took to make everything complete.

Alfred picked up Arthur's slim hand in his own, running his fingers over his wedding ring. He let go of Arthur briefly to reach over onto the dresser. He found the band and slid back on the thing he should have been wearing all this time as well. Then he took up Arthur's hand again and let their fingers slide and tangle together, looking down at Arthur's face illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window – he was the most beautiful person Alfred had ever set eyes on.

Alfred saw the exact moment when Arthur realized that Alfred was once again wearing his wedding ring. His eyes welled up silver in the glow of the moonlight. "Alfred, you…"

"Me too, Arthur," Alfred said. "Me too."

And this time when they kissed, he meant it.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC. <strong>

Omg you guys I'm just going to cry from how nice you all are (especially for taking pity on me last time with all your wonderful reviews /sob) THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Also, I'm so sorry for such a long gap between the updates but my excuse is well, real life as usual, horrible internet issues, but ALSO my collaboration Christmas fic with Car (yes yes, the awesome one who is responsible for Presidential Initiation and Thanks For The Pranks, etc)! It's called "Cold December Night" and it's on her account if you want to read a Christmas fic! Even if it's super late by now… sorry!

Also thanks so so so much for all the people who drew gorgeous gorgeous fanart again which includes: GODdiggidydoodle, TheLadyJazz, LitLoud, MerridewLover, OMA, Sebastian's Servant Felicia, dragonheart3, 赌, and Isca Lancaster! Omg you guys, I have no words for my gratefulness and also, this is probably totally an indication of how long I haven't updated ;o; Sorry!

Spades is also now being translated into Spanish by Lay. Kirkland! So anyone who would prefer reading in Spanish can go and check that out too!

AND to conclude this super long author note, thank you guys all so much for reading this fic and putting up with me for the last ten chapters! I hope you'll all continue to enjoy the rest of this fic! (And apologies in advance if I'm late about replying to reviews and PMs cause I don't have stable internet atm ;u;)


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter is M-rated.**

* * *

><p>Kissing Arthur felt ordinary. It was the sort of kiss that teenagers snuck in the back corner of bookstores, and young couples pecked, quick and affectionate, under the eaves they'd run to hide under on a rainy day. It was like making out in the back of a movie theatre, the good night kiss of prom night, the kiss a soldier coming home gave his wife at the airport.<p>

Arthur's lips were soft and pliant against his, and when Alfred drew back again, Arthur was still there lying beneath him, his eyes half lidded and face flushed in the dim light of the room. Arthur sighed, tangling his hand with Alfred's, and pressed his lips to Alfred's knuckles, warm and feather soft, until he reached the ring. Then he looked back up at Alfred and smiled, affectionate.

"I'm sorry," Alfred blurted out, running his thumb over Arthur's cheek. "I'm sorry," he said, an apology for all the things he'd done wrong. For leaving Arthur, for making him suffer, for making him wait, for everything.

Arthur's expression went from baffled to amused. "Well, it's about time you apologized," he said, chuckling.

Alfred had never had any real, serious relationships before this – there had been casual dates, cute girls who were fun to be with, casual fooling around, and casual fucks. There had never been anyone like Arthur before who Alfred could imagine spending the rest of his life with – who Alfred couldn't imagine _not_ spending the rest of his life with. While Alfred was not exactly short on self-confidence, he wasn't stupid, and frankly, it was a miracle that Arthur was still with him even after all Alfred had put him through.

That was why he wasn't going to screw this up again, Alfred thought. So with an extreme amount of willpower, which he hadn't even known he'd possessed, he forced himself to get off of Arthur.

"Where're you going?" Arthur said as Alfred got off the bed, and he turned to see Arthur all but pouting.

"You're still half drunk," Alfred said. "We are not going to do it when you're drunk."

"I am not drunk, you twat," Arthur said, glaring at him. "I haven't had a drink for hours." Then he really did pout, tugging at the hem of Alfred's shirt.

Alfred ought to be given an award for his self-control. "Arthur, I'm serious. We should take it slow—"

"How bloody slow do you want it?" Arthur demanded and sat up surprisingly fast for someone who had been dead-drunk just a second ago. He scooted closer to Alfred. "We've known each other since you were ten years old, you arse—"

"That didn't count," Alfred said.

"I am willing to bet that we've been through more things than an eighty-year-old couple would normally go through in a lifetime," Arthur said.

"Yeah, but—"

"I have been trying to seduce you for the past three weeks and I'll be bollocksed if you stop when it's finally working!" Arthur shouted.

Alfred stared at him. "What?"

"You didn't think I was cooking so much and wearing those shorts for nothing in the middle of winter, did you?" Arthur said. "I'm the bloody Queen of Spades. I was _not_ going to lose my husband just because he was being a fucking idiot."

"Cooking?" Alfred said. "That's hardly seductive. Especially yours."

Arthur flicked him in the forehead. "You've been eating everything so shut up. My cooking is perfectly wonderful."

"Shorts?" Alfred asked. Come to think of it, it had been kind of strange for Arthur to crank up the heater and yet walk around wearing shorts – not that Alfred was complaining.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Your looks are certainly made up for by lack of intellect," he said, and tapped Alfred on the forehead.

"Hey! I'm going to grad school," Alfred said automatically, still trying to process that Arthur had apparently been trying to get him in bed for the past several weeks. What's more, that it had actually worked. This wasn't the Virgin Queen that Alfred had always assumed Arthur was.

"Yes, it really is a pity what your education systems on Earth have become," Arthur said and smiled again, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to Alfred's lips before pulling back just out of reach again. "Let me spell this out for you, Alfred," he said. "I didn't get my wedding night with you…" Arthur slipped his right hand into Alfred's left, and Alfred realized he was touching the wedding ring again. Arthur gave a small shudder, blushing as his eyes flew up to meet Alfred's. "Now I expect to be compensated. In excess."

The next thing Alfred knew, Arthur had straddled him and was doing magical things with his tongue, and it was not helping him think straight. "Where the hell did you learn to kiss like that?" he asked when he finally managed to breathe again, staring at Arthur in wonder. "I thought you were a virgin."

Arthur looked smugly superior as he looped his arms around Alfred's neck. "Natural talent," he said. "Even if I've never done it with anyone, it doesn't mean I can't do the research."

"What on earth were you doing in Spades before I got there?" Alfred asked, somewhat disturbed but mostly really turned on – especially when Arthur smirked and proceeded to give the most suggestive strip tease Alfred had ever seen. All Arthur did was take off his shirt, but all the twisting and running his own hands up his pale skin and the excessive wiggling he did while _still_ in Alfred's lap was not the kind of thing any virgin ought to know how to do.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Arthur said as he leaned forward and licked Alfred's ear – a small, wet touch of promise that sent a shiver straight down Alfred's spine to his cock. "Mm, and by the way," he said. "I think porn videos are one of the best inventions in your world. Now that's a use of technology I approve of."

Alfred didn't want to know how Arthur had even found out about porn, or where he was getting it from. Now that he knew, though, he couldn't stop thinking about how Arthur had watched them. Had he just observed? Had he taken notes? Had he watched them touching himself, possibly on this very bed?

"Fuck," Alfred breathed.

"Yes, that is the idea." Arthur smiled and pushed Alfred back onto the bed. "Now kiss me," he said so Alfred did.

Arthur's skin was warm and smooth when Alfred ran his hands down Arthur's side. He already knew Arthur was beautiful and smart and sweet and had a temper and a streak of arrogance and a lot of insecurity all at once. He was funny and cute even when he didn't necessarily mean to be (or maybe he did – it was kind of getting hard to tell which parts Arthur calculated, and which parts he didn't). Now Alfred had discovered that Arthur was an amazing kisser, and he made all these wonderful noises when Alfred mouthed his jaw and began moving down. He let out a little gasp when Alfred slipped a finger past the waistband of his trousers.

"Alfred, Alfred please," Arthur said, hushed and breathless all at once, moving himself against Alfred knee, wanton, and Alfred lost it. He covered Arthur's mouth with his own and shoved him back onto the bed, the white sheets flying up like wings on impact.

He had just gotten Arthur's jeans off when Arthur reached for him again. Alfred let him wrap an arm around Alfred's shoulder to pull him back down for a kiss, his face red with that gorgeous blush.

"Arthur," Alfred said as he stopped and just stared for a moment down at him.

"I think I've waited for you my whole life," Arthur said, running his hand down Alfred's face to rest around his neck.

Alfred sighed and kissed Arthur on the forehead, then cheek, then eyelids, feeling Arthur's lashes brush his chin, Arthur's soft breath on his neck. "All that time you were in the castle," he said. "If I hadn't been the one to find you— if you'd married someone else…" He didn't like thinking about it. He could have so easily gone through his whole life never knowing Arthur. If Alfred hadn't gone to the castle that day. If he hadn't kissed Arthur that first time. If he had never become king, never overheard the conspiracy, if the war hadn't happened, if they had never come back to Earth. He swallowed hard.

"But you did find me," Arthur said. "You found me, and we're here right now." He reached up, pulling Alfred's glasses off with one hand and tangling the other in Alfred's hair.

Arthur wound a long leg around Alfred's hip, pulling him close when Alfred dove in to capture his mouth again. Alfred let himself fall close and possessing on top of him, pressing Arthur down into the sheets. "Alfred, wait—wait—"

Then, since Arthur had grown up the Queen of Spades and had been trained from birth for combat, Alfred found himself flipped onto his back again as Arthur scrambled off him and began digging through the bedside drawer. He came up triumphant with a package of old condoms that Alfred had forgotten he'd even had along with a brand new tube of lube.

"What on earth have you been doing while I wasn't home?" Alfred asked, grinning as he pulled Arthur back by his waist.

Arthur ripped open the condom with his teeth. "A lot of…research," he said in a tone so dirty that Alfred was pretty sure it could beat even the best pornos. Then he reached down and began stroking Alfred at a pace that was just this side of not enough.

"_Fuck_," Alfred said when Arthur let go of him. He'd assumed he was the more experienced between the two of them, but Alfred wasn't even sure he could form complete sentences at the moment. Arthur looked entirely too pleased about it as he sat back on Alfred's lap again and poured lube onto his fingers.

Arthur reached behind to stretch himself open, moaning as he fucked himself on his own fingers. His chest heaved as he let his mouth fall open like it was the best feeling in the world, and Alfred felt a little like he was suffocating just from watching Arthur's show.

Arthur was fucking insane, Alfred thought, and he decided he didn't care how many porn videos he'd apparently been renting with Alfred's credit cards – it was worth every penny. He dragged Arthur closer, pressing kisses to Arthur's beautiful flushed skin, and then reached around Arthur's back, tracing Arthur's skin where it was stretched tight around his fingers. Arthur gave a whimpering sort of keen and an incoherent murmur, so Alfred decided he was done letting Arthur take the reigns, and pressed one of his own fingers in along with the two Arthur already had.

Arthur's hips jolted and he let out a low, gutteral whine before he pulled his fingers out again, his mouth wet and swollen, and his fingers slick as he ran them over Alfred's stomach back down to his deck again.

"I want you, Alfred," Arthur said, not at all seductive now – just honest and vulnerable.

"Arthur," Alfred said, guiding him onto his back and kissing him again, gentle, hoping that Arthur understood and felt everything Alfred wanted to say and couldn't find the words for. "Arthur," he said again and was rewarded with Arthur's sweet smile as Alfred guided himself inside, terrified that he might be hurting Arthur.

Arthur gave a soft sigh as Alfred slid in all the way in. It was so tight, he felt like he couldn't breath, and Alfred ran his hands, shaky, down Arthur's side until Arthur began to relax again.

"I'm fine," Arthur said, his legs hooked around Alfred's hips. "Move," he said, and Alfred did. It took all his self-control not to pound Arthur into oblivion. He forced himself to go slow, sliding in and out of Arthur and feeling every clench of Arthur around him, every shudder up his body when Alfred snapped his hips just right, wringing a moan from Arthur's lips. Arthur writhed against him, digging his nails into Alfred's skin, pushing his heel against Alfred's back, urging him to move faster, deeper.

All Alfred could do was stare at him, his queen and his husband – the one he never intended to let go of ever again. And all he could do was push into Arthur again and again, and hope that Arthur could feel the devotion that Alfred was pledging him forever.

"Alfred, Alfred…" Arthur kept saying, arching back and clinging to Alfred both.

So Alfred reached between them, grasping Arthur cock, and kept shoving deeper into him. For a moment, he thought his supernatural strength had come back, sporadic, and he fucked into Arthur faster and faster until Arthur was a babbling mess, pleading incoherently. Then abruptly, Arthur's entire body went taut like a bowstring, his head flung back, and Alfred felt him clamp tight around his cock.

Alfred felt all his muscles go tense as he tried to push deeper into Arthur – Arthur 's voice nothing more than a gasp so high it was nothing but air – and then Alfred came, holding tight to his husband as their marriage finally became real.

* * *

><p>Alfred didn't notice it until he got up in the morning to go make his usual coffee. When he reached for the door, it wasn't eight steps to the left of the bed as usual, and it took Alfred a few moments in his half-awake state to realize this was because the entire bed had managed to move halfway across the room and was now blocking the doorway.<p>

On closer inspection, Alfred found that all the drawers of his dresser had opened and there were a hell of a lot more clothes strewn across the room than either one of them had been wearing last night. The desk had a huge dent in the surface where Alfred's chair had apparently been dropped on it from a decent height by the looks of it. Alfred's papers and books had been flung all around the room, and a pair of pants had somehow gotten stuck up on the ceiling fan.

"Arthur?" Alfred said, blinking at the state of his room.

"Hmm?" Arthur mumbled, stretching languidly in bed as he turned and smiled sleepily at Alfred.

"Is there a reason my room looks like a tornado just went through it?" Alfred asked lightly.

At that, Arthur blinked and squinted, looking around the room though he didn't seem unduly concerned by it. "Your super strength really ought to be controlled better," he said.

Alfred laughed. "I think this is your magic at work, Arthur," he said, crawling back on the bed and kissing him. He found he didn't particularly care that having sex with Arthur apparently meant his room would be completely trashed. That desk had been a piece of shit anyway.

"On second thought, I think this is the usual state of your room. Aren't I always telling you to clean it better?" Arthur said, grinning as he kissed Alfred. He tangled their hands together, happily inspecting Alfred's wedding ring. "You can't even get out of your own bedroom now."

"Is that supposed to be a hint from you?" Alfred asked. "You want to stay in bed all day?"

Another kiss.

"Mm, I wouldn't mind that," Arthur said and pulled Alfred back down.

It figured sex with Arthur would be _literally_ earth shaking.

So they had another round of impromptu morning sex, which threw Alfred's room into even more chaos – really, the neighbors were going to start complaining if sex with Arthur was always going to be like this.

"It's probably a good thing you never did it with anyone else before me, huh," Alfred said. "Does this happen to all the royals?" he asked, threading their fingers together as they lay curled up on the bed afterwards.

Sometime during the second round, it had moved back and was now rammed against the closet door instead.

"Haven't got a clue," Arthur said. "It's not exactly something you're supposed to discuss in polite company."

"Guess so," Alfred said, grinning as he wrapped his arms around Arthur, careful because his strength had kicked in again.

* * *

><p>What followed was what Alfred could pretty confidently say was the best week of his life. He had never seen Arthur smiling so much before, happy and unadulterated. Arthur also took to stealing Alfred's shirts like the top half of his pajamas. Alfred had never realized why so many guys seemed to like their girlfriends wearing their clothes until he was walking into the kitchen, looking for his shirt, and saw Arthur standing there all long, bare legs stretching up so far that there was no way he was wearing any sort of underwear beneath Alfred's pajama top.<p>

He could touch and kiss Arthur whenever he wanted, which felt like all of the time. He could pull Arthur with him onto their bed and undress him slowly, pressing kisses to Arthur's chest with every undone button until Arthur was squirming and cursing Alfred to hurry it up. He could wrap his arms around Arthur's waist when he was trying to bake scones, and not even mind that much when Arthur took it as an invitation to feed Alfred his terrible cooking.

"So this basically makes you a fairytale princess," Alfred said as they sat together on the couch eating grilled cheese sandwiches that Alfred had made so they weren't burnt for once.

"What?" Arthur said and took another bite of his sandwich and reaching for the wine of glass he'd poured. Alfred had never had wine with grilled cheese before, but if it made Arthur happy, Alfred was all for it.

"I kissed you and broke the spell, and now we are living happily ever after," Alfred said cheerfully.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Your world really has the strangest ideas about magic."

"Happily ever after," Alfred repeated. "I gotta show you all the Disney films. You'll love them."

Arthur snorted. "And I'm the Queen of Spades – not a princess."

"Close enough," Alfred said and pressed a greasy kiss to Arthur's cheek, dodging Arthur's half-hearted slap.

"Ugh, that's foul, Alfred!" Arthur said, wiping off the grease on his cheek and glaring at Alfred.

Just for that, Alfred leaned over and did it again, bursting into laughter when Arthur screeched and dropped his sandwich in his attempt to hit Alfred.

"Alfred F. Jones, you wanker!" Arthur shouted, struggling as Alfred proceeded to press as many greasy kisses to Arthur's face as he could until Arthur pushed him off the couch with his flailing and then landed on Alfred's stomach when Alfred pulled him down.

Alfred groaned as Arthur glared at him and wiped his face off with a napkin, prim.

"And after all those etiquette lessons," Arthur snapped.

"Ugh, you're heavier than you look," Alfred said so Arthur sat on him harder, back straight and knees bent with all the poise of a queen.

"It serves you righ—my sandwich!" Arthur said, stretching over Alfred to pick up the remains of his dropped sandwich. "Look what you did—" he got out before Alfred pulled him down and kissed him on the lips this time, effectively shutting him up.

Arthur struggled for a moment, and then went pliant on top of Alfred, their lips slotting together and tasting of grilled cheese and honey-sweet wine.

They lay on the carpet making out until Arthur dropped his sandwich again and sat up, cursing Alfred half-heartedly as he cleaned it up.

Alfred laughed, watching Arthur, and dialed Matthew's number up on a whim.

"Who are you calling?" Arthur asked, heading to the kitchen to toss out the wasted sandwich.

"Matthew," Alfred said, waiting as Matthew's phone rang.

"Good job, Alfred. You've actually called me when it's still daylight here," Matthew said dryly as soon as he picked up.

"Hey, Matt! You better be ready, I'm totally bringing Arthur over for Christmas," Alfred said cheerfully.

"Uh… okay," Matthew said, sounding confused. "You got the tickets?"

"Yeah, we just bought them yesterday—"

"What? When did you do that?" Arthur demanded as he came back into the room.

"When you were asleep," Alfred said and beamed at him.

"What about Spades?" Arthur asked, frowning as he sat down next to Alfred again.

"Professor Germania hasn't found anything yet and break is in a few weeks," Alfred said. "And we can time travel anyway."

"Time travel?" Matthew asked.

"But—"

"I want to introduce my husband to my family," Alfred said and as he expected, Arthur went bright red, stammering an incoherent excuse as he all but legged it back to the kitchen even though he was so clearly pleased by it.

"_Husband?_" Matthew demanded.

"It's complicated, I already told you, Matt," Alfred said.

"_What the fuck do you mean complicated, you idiot_," Matthew shrieked. "You got _married_?"

"Alfred, shut up!" Arthur shouted and came sprinting back into the room.

"I'll talk to you later," Alfred said, laughing, and hung up just in time to dodge the pillow Arthur threw at him. He caught Arthur by the wrist and pulled him, still shouting, into his lap.

They didn't leave the apartment much, and even when they did, they were nearly always together. He had never been one for the typical romantic date stuff that girls seemed to find so appealing, but Alfred actually enjoyed holding hands as they walked around the local park and even helped Arthur crumble up a few cookies to feed the pigeons that Arthur was so keen on doing. He had fun even when Arthur wanted to go grocery shopping and made Alfred carry all the bags if only because Arthur seemed to find everything about the world magical and could spend hours staring at the electronic fountain displays in shop windows if Alfred let him. The only times they were separated was when Alfred went to class, and even then, he was pretty sure that nothing had gone into his brain at all the entire week because all he could think about was getting back home to Arthur.

While he had lived a pretty charmed life up until Spades, this was probably the first time in his entire life Alfred could remember feeling so alive and happy. They'd still have things to deal with – how to get back to Spades, what would happen after that, whether or not Alfred would come back here or stay. For now though, he was content to just be with Arthur and he didn't want to think about any of those other things. For the first time in his life, Alfred wasn't trying to get to the next part of his life, trying to make something of himself, trying to do something great – he was happy just to be in the present, with Arthur, enjoying every moment as much as he could.

* * *

><p>On Thursday, Alfred was late to his meeting with Professor Germania because he spent too long lingering at the apartment, trying to wring out every last second he had with Arthur before he had to leave.<p>

"I'll be back before six. Do you want to go out for dinner?" Alfred asked, wrapping an arm around Arthur's waist to pull him forward into a kiss at the entrance of their apartment.

Arthur shivered in the cold wind, dressed in just a pair of slacks and a sweater, and he leaned into Alfred, burying his fingers into Alfred's coat and tilting his head up for another kiss. "Let's stay home," he said. "I'll cook."

"That's exactly why we should go out to eat," Alfred said and yelped when Arthur tugged his shirt up and pinched Alfred with his cold fingers. "Okay, okay, fine we'll stay home," he said, catching Arthur's hands to pull them out from under his shirt. He leaned down to kiss Arthur again. "I'll be back!"

If Alfred was completely honest, he didn't really want to go see Professor Germania. He'd rather stay home with Arthur and put off going back to Spades. He wanted to take Arthur to see Matt in America, show Arthur his own nation which he was sure Arthur would like even more than England. The longer they could put off going back to Spades, the better chance Alfred had of actually doing that. They only had a couple of weeks left before winter vacation, and he couldn't wait to show Arthur what Christmas would be like here. It wasn't as though Spades would really be worse off with them gone. After all, the last time Arthur had gone to sleep, he'd been out of it for at least 10 years, and they'd gone back to Spades apparently five days before Arthur had originally left it. Since they'd be able to time travel once Germania figured it out, they could probably take off the time to go back to America for a week or two, plan exactly what to do with Germania once they got back, and still have plenty of time to return to Spades.

It was a great plan, and meanwhile, Alfred could spoil Arthur as much as he wanted. Lately, he'd taken to bringing little surprises back home. They were just small things like kinder eggs that had astonished Arthur for hours when Alfred brought him one. Arthur had asked question after question about what kind of a bird laid a chocolate egg with toys inside, and it had taken a lot of explaining before Alfred could convince Arthur that it was actually possible for machines to make these things.

Alfred was still trying to think of something Arthur would find interesting when he got to school.

It was a little past 5 p.m., and most people were either already gone or clearing out for the day. The hallway leading to Germania's office was quiet and empty, Alfred's footsteps muffled by the old carpeting, and it was only because it was so quiet that Alfred noticed anything was wrong at all.

Alfred was still lost in thought when he knocked on Germania's door so he didn't hear it immediately.

Usually, Professor Germania would ask who it was or come and open the door himself, but this time there was no answer. On its own that wouldn't be strange either – sometimes the professor wasn't in his office and didn't make it on time to their meetings and Alfred would have to call him and then wait somewhere on campus until Germania showed up.

"Professor?" Alfred called when there was no answer – and that was when he heard it.

It was just a quiet hum and a strange scratching noise, but it was enough to put Alfred on high alert a way he hadn't been since coming back to England. He cursed himself for not thinking to bring any weapons, so he could only hope his super strength would kick in if he needed it.

Alfred grasped the doorknob, and then shoved the door as hard as he could, letting it fly open with a bang.

He noticed two things:

1. Professor Germania was lying face up on the ground in a pool of his own dark blood. There was a gaping hole in his middle that was still bubbling up with blood, and if Germania wasn't dead already, Alfred could tell it wouldn't be long.

2. Ivan Braginsky was standing over to one side, drawing what Alfred recognized as one of those magic transportation circles that was, if not exactly like the one he and Arthur had used to come back to Earth, at least similar enough that Alfred couldn't tell the difference. Ivan was drawing it with Germania's shed blood, humming quietly to himself as he did.

Ivan glanced at Alfred when he burst in, but ignored him, busying himself with the circle.

"What the fuck did you do?" Alfred shouted and ran to Professor Germania. "Professor?"

Germania's eyelids fluttered and he looked at Alfred without moving from the ground. "Alfred?" he croaked, his face ashen.

"I'll get the ambulance," Alfred said, fumbling for his phone. "I'll—"

"I would have to ask you not to do that," Ivan said.

Alfred heard the click and slowly turned to look at Ivan. There, in Ivan's hands was a rifle that was pointed straight at Alfred. Germania's injuries suddenly made a lot more sense if it was a perforating wound. Ivan had shot Germania in the back, Alfred realized, and everything had been torn up even more badly in the front when the bullets exited. Worse, Ivan had gotten the professor through his gut which meant that while Germania was certain to die, it would be a slow and painful death.

"Step away from the professor, Jones," Ivan said, smiling that creepy, gentle smile that Alfred had never liked but now sent shivers down his back. He wished he had some kind of a weapon.

"You killed him," Alfred said as he tried to think what he could do. Ivan had the rifle pointed at him, and his coat was open enough that Alfred could see at least one handgun stuck in Ivan's belt. "You won't get away with it. Gunshots are loud – people will be calling the police by now."

Ivan just kept smiling. "I am not simple-minded like you. I use magic to quiet it," he said and Alfred realized with a sinking stomach that it was true. Judging by Germania's wound and still-spreading puddle of blood on the ground, it could only have been a few minutes since Germania was shot. Alfred should have heard the gunshot walking into the building but he hadn't. "Now step away from the professor. I need his blood."

Alfred had no choice but to step aside and watch as Ivan dipped his hand into that wound on Germania's middle, gritting his teeth when he heard Germania's gasp of pain but unable to do a thing as Ivan finished up the circle he was drawing on the floor with Germania's blood. Alfred's phone was in his pocket and he might have a chance of calling emergency, but he had his hands raised up and open. There were plenty of things in Germania's office that Alfred could use as a weapon – the lamps, all the sharp writing utensils on his desk, even one of Germania's heavy textbooks could be helpful but Alfred knew he wouldn't be able to reach anything in time before Ivan shot him.

He could only watch, fists clenched, as Ivan dug his hand into Germania's gut three more times before completing the circle. Ivan seemed to be in no hurry to finish, and even then, Alfred couldn't come up with a good course of action. He stood, frozen instead, as Ivan stepped into the circle, activating it with some unintelligible chanting.

The circle floated up, a pale, sickly green color that seemed to wobble all over the place, but stayed surrounding Ivan.

"I'd ask if you and your little queen would like to come, but I know you only concern yourselves with each other, yes?" Ivan said with the rifle still pointed at Alfred.

Alfred saw the movement a split second before Ivan pulled the trigger. He jumped to one side and felt heat rush past his ankle and then the wooden cabinet behind him exploded. He could see the recoil off Ivan's shoulder, he was showered in wooden splinters, but the gun had not made a sound.

"Pity," Ivan said. "I missed."

Then abruptly, the glowing circle sucked in on itself and disappeared, taking Ivan with it. There was no trace of the blood-traced circle that had been on the ground just a moment ago.

"Professor, hold on," Alfred said, pulling out his phone.

"Don't," Germania said with more force than Alfred had expected of someone so wounded.

To Alfred's surprise, Germania moved his hand up to the wound on his stomach and made a few shaky movements on it. Badly scribbled characters rose up, glowing a pale white over Germania's chest before they disappeared, and along with them, the wound. The puddle of blood on the ground seemed to flow right back into Germania's body, and then not only did the flesh seal over itself, but so did Germania's clothes like the wound had never been there.

Germania slowly got to his feet, wincing as he did. "Close your mouth, Alfred," he said.

"You—you're okay," Alfred said.

Germania didn't pause as he walked over to his desk. "Not for long," he said. "That boy knew what he was doing. I won't recover—"

"But you just—"

"I just used a temporary time spell," Germania said and raised an eyebrow at Alfred. "I am also from Spades, you remember. It'll hold off the injuries for a bit, but I've only bought some time. Call Arthur," he said.

"But what about Ivan?" Alfred asked.

"Alfred, there is no time!" Germania snapped. "Ivan was right – we need the blood of an Ace and a resident both to return to Cards. Now as I've no use for it anymore, you'll use mine," he said.

"He didn't need to do that to you then," Alfred said. "You just need enough to draw a circle, right?"

"Ivan was a bit overzealous," Professor Germania said and winced as he bent to pick up some more papers. "It's only a pity I didn't figure it out before he did. Now we need you and Arthur back in Spades before I die," he said, sounding entirely too calm about it. "At the most, the spell has bought me half a day. With the unstable magic here, probably half of that if we're lucky and I'll need Arthur's help to maintain it," he said. "Now _call him_."

Alfred did as told.

"Al—"

"Arthur, get everything ready. We're going back to Spades," Alfred said as soon as Arthur picked up.

"What? What's wrong?" Arthur said.

Even over the phone, just hearing Arthur's voice made Alfred feel slightly calmer and more in control. "Ivan got to Germania," Alfred said. "We need to leave tonight. Professor Germania is setting it up for us now so take whatever you think we need."

"Ivan is—"

"Ivan's gone back to Cards," Alfred said, and explained the situation to Arthur as best as he understood it. "Germania's done some kind of spell to stop the injury for now but he'll need your help. Pack whatever you need and then come here."

"All right," Arthur said. "I'll be there soon."

"Call me if anything happens," Alfred said and hung up again. Talking to Arthur had helped and Alfred's thoughts were focused again. Germania couldn't be saved and Ivan was gone now, but he and Arthur could still get back to Spades. The problem was what they could do once they returned. If Ivan's hypothesis was correct, then the two guns Ivan had brought to Cards would be extremely dangerous – maybe even as dangerous as nuclear weapons were. One bullet could bring down a city if that was the case, and not one of the four nations would stand a chance against someone with weaponry like that. On the other hand, they weren't in Spades yet and Alfred now knew what Ivan had at his disposal.

"Ivan left with guns – at least one rifle and one handgun," Alfred said.

Germania paused from where he was rifling through his papers and looked up. "That could be bad," he said.

"How much time do we have?"

Germania looked down at the antique clock on his desk. "Midnight if we're lucky," he said. He looked intently at Alfred. "Do what you need to do. I've got to get the spell set up, and my… my personal effects to get in order," he said. "Arthur will come?"

Alfred nodded. "As soon as he's done packing."

"Then we'll be fine. You have until midnight," Germania said.

That was all Alfred waited to hear before he left the building. He made one stop to the bank and withdrew the £300 he was allowed from the ATM which he could only hope was enough. Then he rented a car again with his credit card – there'd be no time to take the bus – and headed for the same small farm he'd taken Arthur to, making it in two and a half hours by speeding as fast as he could. He'd rather risk getting a ticket than not getting back in time, but at least that much was on Alfred's side and no one tried to pull him over. Negotiations went more smoothly than Alfred had expected, and he left a half hour later, down by £300 but having acquired one six-cylinder revolver, a decent semi-automatic handgun, and that rocket launcher all stuffed into a heavy-duty duffel bag. They weren't the best quality, and probably less kept up than Alfred was really comfortable with, but under the circumstances and with the money he had, it would do. If need be, Arthur could handle the semi-automatic, and if they were lucky, it would never come down to having to use these weapons. Whoever carried the bigger stick won and that rocket launcher would definitely be a bigger stick than anything Ivan was carrying.

Alfred rushed back as fast as he could and drove straight back to the school. A glance up at the clock tower showed that he had barely three minutes before it struck midnight, and he could only hope that Arthur had been able to keep Germania going. He shouldered the duffel bag and sprinted up the steps to Germania's office as fast as he could, heedless of any noise he was making. He burst through the office door just as the clocks began striking the hour.

"I'm back," Alfred said.

"Alfred," Arthur said and he sounded exhausted.

He was sitting next to Germania who looked completely ashen and had a thin sheen of sweat over his skin. Arthur's hands were pressed to the professor's chest where they pulsed a light blue, but seemed on the verge of fizzling out. Every few seconds, Arthur would mutter something and push a little harder and the blue would flare up again only to die back down to a low simmer.

"Did you get everything?" Arthur asked.

There were two big outdoorsmen backpacks sitting by the door – one that Alfred recognized as his own, and another that looked to be brand new. They were both outfitted with what looked to be enough to furnish a small house. Arthur had clearly gone to town at some climbing shop, and packed everything from folded tents, rope, and tin cups – and that was just what was hanging outside those backpacks. Arthur was also dressed warmly in a climber's down jacket and good climbing boots, and he'd brought Alfred's own pair for him as well. "Get dressed," Arthur said and took a shallow breath. "I used your credit card."

"Great," Alfred said as he did as told, pulling on the boots, sweater, and coat that Arthur had brought him.

"I brought you dinner, but we'll have to eat on the other side," he said, looking wearily at Germania who finally opened his eyes.

"Is everything set?" the professor asked.

Alfred nodded, gesturing to the duffel bag as he shrugged on the bigger of the two backpacks. "Is there anything you need me to do?" he asked.

Professor Germania shook his head. "I've got it all taken care of," he said. "I had no time to make a will, but I've written one and I'd like you to sign it."

Alfred nodded and signed the piece of paper Germania pointed to.

"I'm leaving all my assets to the university," he said. "All my special research is in the cabinet here if you get back and have the interest."

"Professor—"

Professor Germania gestured for Alfred to be quiet. "Arthur, you must be in the circle before I die, but once I am gone, take my Ace," he said. "It can be your trump card."

"Your what?" Alfred said.

"Are you sure?" Arthur stopped completely and turned to stare at Germania with a sort of intensity Alfred had never seen on his face before.

"I spent my entire life here trying to figure out a way back," Germania said. "Let me do one last thing for my country."

Arthur swallowed and nodded. "Then I am grateful."

Then Arthur removed his hands.

As soon as his hands left Germania's body, Alfred saw both the healed shirt and skin split open again, just a small cut at first and then it began widening rapidly.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said and then dipped his hand into the wound. His fingers came away bloody and he immediately began drawing a circle on the floor with it the same way Ivan had. Germania winced, but nodded for Arthur to go on as Arthur drew as fast as he could, doing a sloppy job but still making the intricate design with the blood bubbling up from Germania's middle. Once he was done, Alfred helped Arthur put on the backpack as fast as he could, and picked up both the duffel bag of weapons and the dinner Arthur had packed.

"Step inside," Arthur instructed Alfred, and as Alfred did, the circle flared up just like Ivan's, but a pale white color. "It is complete," Arthur said to Germania who was watching them from his chair.

Professor Germania gave a faint smile as he looked back at Arthur and then Alfred. The blood from his wound had begun dripping to the ground again forming a puddle much faster than it had before.

Time was out.

"Don't forget the Ace card," Germania said and took a deep breath. "Good luck."

Then he exhaled long once, and stopped.

That was when the strangest thing began to happen. Starting from his toes, the professor seemed to go fuzzy like static, and Alfred heard the soft patter before he saw it. Professor Germania's body began dissolving feet-first into a cascade of cards that dropped to the floor, scattering like rain. Each one of them was an Ace of Spades card, rapidly making a pile at the foot of Germania's armchair. Arthur was watching intently as Germania's body dissolved into cards, and reached out suddenly to extract a single card as it rained down along with the others.

Arthur didn't wait for Germania to finish dissolving before he stepped into the circle. "We need to leave before it's done," he said. "Once he's gone, so is his blood."

"A kiss to activate the spell?" Alfred asked.

Arthur nodded and tilted his head up as Alfred automatically pulled him closer. Arthur didn't push up the few inches to kiss him, hesitating even though Alfred could see the disintegration had reached Germania's neck.

"Are things going to change?" Arthur asked, searching Alfred's eyes. "When we go back."

Alfred focused on Arthur. They had had a wonderful few weeks here on Earth. Alfred wanted to stay and he could tell Arthur wanted to as well. If they could just live like normal people here with none of the politics and war to concern them, if Alfred could just keep Arthur safe and happy with him, if they could grow old together as time intended – but they couldn't.

"Not between us," Alfred said even though they both knew it was a lie. They were going to be royalty at war, and that was bigger than the both of them and anything they had now. Everything would change.

Arthur gave him a sad, small smile, and Alfred leaned down and kissed him.

* * *

><p>Tbc maybe?<p> 


End file.
